In December 2007, unrest broke out in the diamond mining region of Kono in the east, between kimberlite mining corporation Koidu Holdings [part of Beny Steinmetz Group] and locals in the lease area. The company had promised to relocate hundreds of community residents to make way for its mining operation but the slow pace of implementation of this pledge, coupled with the repeated blasts of dynamite in underground mining sites set the company and its hosts on a collision course... Under the existing mining laws, exporters of diamonds...pay three percent of their export earnings to the government. This...has been roundly criticised by activists who see this as insufficient enough to address the needs of the host communities. [also refers to Sierra Rutile (part of Titanium Resources)]