Humanity learned about diamonds seven thousand years ago. The first diamonds were discovered in India in the form of placers. It was there that the largest diamonds in human history were discovered. People often paid for the possession of these stones with blood and life. Every large diamond known in the world has its own bloody history.
At the end of the 19th century, when Indian diamond mines were already depleted, diamonds were discovered in bulk in the Great Namib Desert in southern Africa. They say that the workers hired to search for diamonds groped in the sand, completely naked with finds jars tied around their necks. When releasing workers from the mine, a thorough search was carried out, but even with such a strict approach to the accounting of diamonds, jewelry still managed to be smuggled in in wounds specially inflicted for this purpose. It was in this way that the largest Shah diamond was removed from the mine.
Diamonds are already cut diamonds, processed in a special way, which can put the economy of any, even the most backward, country on its feet. That is why the so-called diamond fever covered all continents and countries of the world.
Diamond mining
Diamonds are amazing stones with unique properties and, among other things, they are very rarely found in nature. Diamond mining is an extremely labor-intensive process, which will also require considerable investment, especially at first.
Diamonds are formed 400 km from the earth's surface in the earth's mantle , at high temperatures and enormous pressure. Diamonds are brought to the surface of the earth by magma erupted from the crater of a volcano, and thus kimberlite pipes appear. Placers are already secondary diamond deposits; they are formed during soil erosion, mainly in the beds of reservoirs, at the bottom of coastal sea and river areas.
From approximately 1 ton of rock, no more than 1 carat of diamonds can be isolated. But that is not all. The main thing is to discover mines containing kimberlite or lamproite pipes. It happens that more than a dozen years pass from the start of a diamond mine to its launch. We present to you the rating of diamond mining countries:
Large diamond deposits
99% of diamonds mined in Russia are obtained from deposits in Yakutia. Previously, stones were found in the Urals - on the banks of streams and rivers, as well as during washing of gold ore. However, the placers were practically not given the opportunity to begin industrial development.
Depending on the geological processes involved in the removal of diamond ore to the upper layers, deposits are divided into impact, bedrock and placer deposits.
Impact diamonds appear on the surface as a result of a meteorite falling. Such deposits are not always suitable for industrial production, but they are of significant interest to scientists.
Primary deposits are those that formed where magma reaches the surface. Most often these are deposits in areas with seismic activity and active or dormant volcanoes. Kimberlite and lamproite pipes are vertically oriented geological bodies that expand due to the explosion of rock at the outlet. The predominant volume of production is carried out in kimberlite deposits. Most of the jewelry stones are mined from them.
A placer deposit is formed as a result of erosive processes in a diamond-bearing pipe. Precipitation washes away the rock, forming placer fields of diamonds, pebbles and rubble.
Placer diamond deposits are divided into 4 types.
- Coastal-marine - when volcanic rock crumbles on the coast.
- Colluvial - formed on slopes.
- Alluvial - formed in river valleys.
- Eluvial - placers in the upper layer of the earth.
For thousands of years, placers have been the subject of industrial diamond mining. It was even believed that diamonds were formed in rivers.
The largest diamond deposits are recognized in descending order of rating:
- Jwaneng (Botswana);
- Yubileiny (Russia, Yakutia);
- UDACHNOE (Yakutia);
- Mir (Yakutia);
- Argyll (Australia);
- Catoca (Angola);
- Venice (South Africa);
- Deposit named after V.P. Grib (Russia, Arkhangelsk region);
- Orapa (Botswana).
Also considered to be large deposits are the Russian Botuobinskoye, named after M. Lomonosov; Crater of Diamonds State Park in the USA; Indian mines of Panna, Brazilian Minas Gerais.
Australia
Until recently, Australia was one of the leading diamond mining countries. But at present its reserves have been greatly depleted; now diamond mining there is carried out mainly near the city of Kimberley in the Argyl mine. It was here that very rare pink crystals were recently discovered, which have a very high price and are sold only through auctions. But scientists estimate that the diamond reserves at this mine will be completely depleted by 2021.
Where do diamonds come from?
Scientists have still not come to a consensus regarding the process of formation of the strongest mineral. There are several scientific theories about this.
According to the first theory, rough diamonds were formed more than 100 million years ago at a depth of at least 100 km. It was there that optimal conditions were created for the transformation of carbon into solid rock with a different form of crystal lattice, namely high temperature (from 1100 ° C), pressure (at least 35 kilobars) and a homogeneous environment with the absence of a temperature gradient.
Be sure to see: How to distinguish natural alexandrite stone from artificial
As a result of volcanic activity, minerals were brought to the surface. Proof of this is the geography of most deposits (the bottom of the oceans, places near faults in the earth’s crust), as well as their appearance (diamond-bearing pipes), directed vertically upward. Over time, the kimberlites were exposed to water and air and water and eroded, and the rock crumbled, forming “diamond fields.”
The second version of the answer to the question of where diamonds came from was meteorites. During the study and analysis of their composition, the smallest particles of diamond crystals were discovered, which led scientists to think about the formation of the mineral at the moment of the collision of a celestial body with the earth's surface. Such deposits are called impact deposits.
In the universe there is a white dwarf - the star Lucy, whose core consists of pure diamond. Its diameter is about 4 thousand kilometers, and scientists still cannot calculate its weight in carats.
South Africa
South Africa is the most developed country on the African continent, the undoubted leader in the number of mineral deposits, including diamonds. The only country in Africa that is not a third world country. The constant growth of GDP marks the incredible activity of the country's foreign market. South Africa ranks fifth in annual diamond production ( 7.4 million carats - $1.22 billion )
The very best stones?
Diamond is the only mineral on earth consisting of a single element. This is carbon.
The same one from which leads for simple pencils are made. The difference between lead and diamond is the “packaging” of the crystal lattice.
Quality factors?️
The human contribution to the beauty of a diamond is a well-executed cut.
