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:
Technological cycle
The placers are found in sands that require a beneficiation process. In primary deposits, stones are interspersed with mountain kimberlite. The development of placer deposits presents certain difficulties:
- the need to restore large areas of soil removed during the mining process;
- removal from the raw material processing point;
- moving equipment to a new location when the previous one is depleted.
A quarry or mine has fewer disadvantages and allows for the extraction of large volumes of stones. The technological cycle for any mining method includes:
- geological exploration, calculations of approximate volumes of deposits;
- acquisition of special equipment;
- equipment of the excavation site;
- rock mining;
- delivery to the mining factory.
Often the cycle includes the construction of a processing plant - it is cheaper to cut and polish stones within one company than to transport them somewhere.
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.
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 )
Angola
Angola ranks fourth in the world in diamond production. The main deposit is Fukauma. Angola's economy is mainly based on the production and sale of oil. It is thanks to oil exports that the country's economy is developing very quickly among all sub-Saharan African countries.
Since diamond production is calculated not by mass (kg), but by their value. The value is determined by the size and purity of the stones. Then Angola produces 8.7 million carats of diamonds worth 1.32 billion dollars .
The most famous diamonds
Diamond Kohinoor
the most famous diamond today is the Kohinoor. In Farsi it means “Mountain of Light”. Legend has it that its first owner was a boy who appeared several thousand years before the birth of Christ near the Yamuna River. This was not an ordinary child, but a product of the Sun-Karna. The stone was an ornament to his embroidered cap.
It is “Kohinoor” that is the “prima” of the British crown.
Over its history, the stone has seen a lot of blood and changed its owner until it became part of the English crown. Now it is in the Tower Castle and is securely guarded. Many say that the only worthy price for this stone is the life of the one who wants to get it.
You can learn even more about what surrounds us and about the unusual side of our lives from our Telegram channel. Interesting facts and scientific humor appear there every day.
Diamond "Tiffany"
In 1877, a diamond was found in Kimberley, which became the world's largest yellow diamond. It weighed 287 carats and was sold for $18,000—unheard of money at that time. Charles Tiffany stone . The cutting took almost two years, and as a result the stone took on a quadrangular shape and shone with 89 facets.
The unusual cut of this diamond makes it very interesting.
As a result, the stone decorated the window of a store on Fifth Avenue in New York. The first person who was able to feel it on her body was the star of the movie “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” Audrey Hepburn. After that, a diamond with an unusual cut and a setting in the shape of a diamond bird went to auction, but was never sold. As a result, it became the symbol of the Tiffany&Co store.
Diamond "Black Orlov"
Another world-famous diamond is called “Black Orlov” . Initially, he was buried in one of the Indian tombs, but robbers were able to kidnap him. As a result, as the legend goes, they brought a curse on themselves and on everyone into whose hands the stone fell.
The same “Black Orlov”...
Countess Nadezhda Orlova and Princess Golitsyna are attributed to the victims of the stone. It is also customary to attribute Jay Paris to the victims, who wanted to sell the stone in New York, but for some reason jumped off the roof instead.
There are other famous diamonds that have caused a lot of problems for their owners. And all because there is a lot of money behind them, a symbol of power and simply a charming shine that “blows the roof off.” There is no need to give them a mystical meaning; it is enough to simply understand human greed and the desire for easy money, perhaps even at the cost of someone else’s life.
Botswana
Botswana, a country located in the south of the African continent, boasts the largest number of diamond mines. It borders South Africa, Namibia and Zambia. More than 70% of this country is occupied by the Kalahari Desert, the so-called “green desert”.
The country is one of the recognized leaders in the production and value of all diamonds. Industrial mining of these stones in the country began back in 1971. In addition, Botswana has rich deposits of gold, silver and platinum. The main share of the state's export products comes from the USA and Western Europe. 24.6 million carats per year,
Russia
Russia is one of the world's largest owners of almost all types of minerals. The country has rich deposits of ferrous and non-ferrous metals, coal, oil, and natural gas. Many of the natural resources presented are located in Siberia, including the richest kimberlite pipes.
For a very long time, Russia was not considered a diamond-mining country, although at the end of the 19th century small diamond deposits were discovered in the Urals. But the vast territorial expanses of our country did not allow the hope of discovering new deposits to fade, and, according to scientists, it was in Yakutia. The largest diamond deposits are located in the Sakha Republic, Arkhangelsk and Perm regions. In 2007-2008, Russia occupied a leading position in the ranking of diamond production. Today, the Russian Federation has first place in the world in diamond production ( 38.3 million carats, worth $3.73 billion )
Third place. Canada - $1.4 billion
Ekati diamond mine in Canada.
Canada has won the honorary title of one of the richest countries in the world. The state also has a high per capita income, and at the same time can boast of membership in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (abbreviated as OECD), the G8. Canada is one of the ten most trading countries in the world. As of 2008, GNP totaled 1,510 billion, and per capita it was $47,066. At the same time, GDP reaches 1303 billion.
Diamond industry in recent history
Since 1980, global industrial production of diamonds has increased 3-4 times, but, nevertheless, diamonds are still considered an extremely scarce natural resource. Over the past 25 years, more than 12 thousand kimberlite deposits have been discovered in the world. But at the same time, only 1% of these deposits contain a sufficient amount of diamonds to make their mining economically profitable.
Naturally, this is due to the fact that no one sifts tons of rock through a sieve anymore, dreaming of finding one small diamond. Today, diamond mining is a labor-intensive process that requires both huge investments and high technical skills. The size of industrial diamond mines is so large that they can be seen from space.
The most widely represented diamond deposits are on the African continent. In some politically unstable countries in West and Central Africa, the military junta has taken strict control of diamond mining. Using funds from the sale of jewelry to invest in military operations in the country. Stones from these countries, most often smuggled, are called “blood diamonds” or “stones of grief and war.”
Therefore, in 2002, the UN initiated the so-called Kimberlite Process, which was supposed to stop the smuggling of diamonds from military conflict zones and the use of the proceeds to further continue the war. But still, this problem could not be completely solved, because in African countries, their state of customs control, smuggling is flourishing and the export of diamonds continues. Among other things, diamonds are also supplied by countries that are not in a state of direct hostilities, and these diamonds are considered “clean”, but are also used to escalate a military conflict.
How does a mining and processing plant work?
In order to process the rock and find diamonds in it, mining dump trucks transport thousands of tons of ore per day to special plants. There, the ore passes through various crushing and grinding systems. Often they differ from each other, but the whole point is to break the rock into small stones, then sift it by size in a screen (a special screening machine) and subject it to further processing.
Large pieces of rock are washed with water in order to obtain diamonds, and small pieces are exposed to special reagents that literally pull diamonds out of the rock. The spent rock undergoes additional testing - X-ray luminescence separation . The fact is that diamonds glow under X-rays. This property is used to check the quality of rock processing. The slightest flashes are detected automatically and part of the rock is blown off the belt. Then she is sent for additional testing.
The mining and processing plant is a huge structure with a bunch of specialized equipment.
When diamonds are collected, there are still impurities among them, and this is where manual labor begins. They are sorted by hand, removing even the slightest extra stones. After this, the diamonds are checked and sorted according to a huge number of parameters in order to be sent to special exchanges, where jewelers will buy them for further processing and use in jewelry.
