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Diamonds
Retread Resources > Resources > Diamonds| A diamond is a mineral composed of pure carbon. It is the hardest naturally occurring substance known. It is also the most popular gemstone. This is because of the diamonds extreme hardness. The very high refractive power of diamonds gives them their extraordinary brilliance. Properly cut diamonds will return a greater amount of light than a gem of lesser refractive power, and will appear more brilliant. The high dispersion that gives the diamond its "Fire" is caused by the separation of white light into the colors of the spectrum, as the light passes through the diamond. The densely packed atoms in diamonds cause it to slow down light to less that 128,750 km per second, which is more than 160,000 km per second slower than in air. All the electrons that are packed into the diamond cause this reduction in speed. A diamond has the most densely packed |  |
HistoryThe first reported findings of diamonds in the world were made in India about 3,000 years ago, and the first diamonds found in river beds were found around 800 BC It is likely that these diamonds were valued for their ability to refract light Diamonds were used as talismans to ward off evil and to provide protection against harm Since the fist discovery of diamonds, they have had special magic for Kings, Queens and subjects. The Diamond has symbolized many things since it's discovery: love, wealth, power, spirit and magical powers, some of which hold true to this day. The word Diamond comes from the Greek word "Adamas" meaning unconquerable and indestructible. |
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| During the dark ages Diamonds were used in medicine. People ingested Diamonds in the hopes of curing illness. During the early middle ages, Pope Clement ingested Diamonds to help in his recovery from sickness but this proved unsuccessful. |
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It did not acquire its unique status until after the 16th century. With the increase of the common man's knowledge that diamonds were a valuable and pricey gem, mine owners began to spread myths in the mines. Some of which told that diamonds were poisonous. The spread of these myths was to prevent the miner's from ingesting the uncut diamonds in an attempt to smuggle them out of the mine for their own personal gain. |
| It was during the Middle Ages that many large and famous diamond discoveries were made The Blue Hope and the Koh I Noor were found in India. Up until the 15th century it was only Kings that could afford Diamonds to use as symbols of strength, courage and invincibility. |
The Diamond as a symbol of love:
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The first riverbed (alluvial) diamonds were probably discovered in India, in around 800 BC The intrusive rock source of these alluvial diamonds has never been discovered. The alluvial deposits were rich enough to supply most of the world's diamonds until the eighteenth century, when dwindling Indian supplies probably spurred the exploration that led to the discovery of diamonds in Brazil, which became the next important diamond source. In 1866, South Africa's world class diamond deposits were discovered. South African's diamond output was unrivaled until major deposits were found in Siberian permafrost in 1954. (Taken from: www.leshem.com) |
| Canadian diamonds were discovered in the early 1990's in the Northwest Territories. This was after almost thirteen years of searching the Canadian arctic. The Discovery of Diamonds in the Northwest Territories started a world class staking rush in the Canadian arctic. The discovery of these diamond deposits resulted in large groups of people being airlifted into an area that was considered to be almost inaccessible, by overland routs. Over the winter of 1992-1993 nearly 3,000 tons of ore was shipped across 644 km of frozen muskeg and Lake Ice in the Northwest Territories. Around 70% of the profits, i.e. economic diamonds recovered could be placed into a shot glass. The ore grade of the Northwest Territories mines are ± 3.9 carats per ton, making them the richest diamond find in the world. There are five Kimberlite pipes in the Lac de Gras area that are to be developed between 1998 and 2008. The mines in the Northwest Territories are each expected to have a mine life of more that 25 years. |  |
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Namibia is home to the world's newest diamond mines. The Namibian mines are quite different than the diamond mines found around the globe. The diamond mines in Namibia are situated along the Atlantic coast under roughly 61 m of water. These diamonds are the result of millions of years of water and wind eroding the diamond bearing kimberlite pipes which lay inland to the east. The Namibian marine diamond mining is currently the fastest growing segment of diamond mining industry in the world. Extra terrestrial Diamonds found in meteorites were first reported in 1888, from two fireballs seen to land near Novo Urei in Siberia, Russia. |
| Meteorite impacts on the earth not only formed craters but have transformed Carbon into non-igneous diamonds. Many of the meteorite impact craters have carbon isotopic compositions that indicate that the diamonds found were likely formed from primordial Carbon. The argument on how diamonds found in meteorites and craters are formed is well divided. Some believe that the diamonds were formed as a result of some astronomical event in another solar system, others believe that is is a direct result of the heat and shock of impact, and there are those that believe it is a combination of the two. |  |
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| Diamonds are transported surfaceword from the earth's interior from depth of ±180 km (5 GPa) in highly explosive rapidly injected magmas called Kimberlites and Lamperfears. (definitions) Only a few Kimberlites/Xenoliths contain diamonds and of these only a few have concentrations of one to five parts per million (1-5ppm) This means 1 to 5 grams of diamonds for each 1 metric tonne of rock. |  Click to view animation. |
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Diamonds from Kiberlite clan rocks (definitions) (KCR's), range from smothfaced octahedral to hopercrystals and from fibrous, cubes, balls to polycrystalline aggregates in framsite Diamonds range in size from less than 0.1 carat up to the famous Cullinan diamond; which when uncut was 3,106 carats. Diamonds greater than 500 carats are rare, and they decrease in size as a function of frequency. A carat is 200 milligrams. (See Graph) |
 A small number of diamonds contain Fe, FeC, and SiC, inclusions that imply extremely low oxidation states during formation These extreme conditions are substantially greater than rocks and minerals from the upper mantle and more compatible with Earth's metallic Iron rich core.
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Diamonds can vary in color from none through green to brown and each different color represents a different anomaly in the formation of the diamond. A green transparent represents radiation damage to the diamond, green opaque represents a coated diamond containing abundant mineral and fluid inclusions. Diamonds of a brown pink color exhibit lamination (misss allignments of crystal lattices) as a result of plastic deformation. Yellow and greenish yellow diamonds contain nitrogen as a minor substitute for carbon, and electricaly semi-conducting blue diamonds have trace amounts of boron present. Clear diamonds are diamonds that have nothing but Carbon present in their formation. |
Some Diamond Linkswww.leshem.comwww.nydex.com |