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:
Properties
Diamond is the only mineral in nature consisting of a single element. Its structure is very hard and at the same time quite fragile. In addition, it is the most thermally conductive of all solids.
Diamond melts at a temperature of about 40,000C. Lit:
- in air at 800-10000C;
- in an oxygen stream at a temperature of 720-8000C, forming carbon dioxide.
Optical properties include high refractive index, dispersion and luminescence. It happens that the original crystal contains any of the shades of colors in the visible spectrum. This is determined by the microscopic impurities of other chemical elements present in it.
Subject to standard storage conditions, the mineral can exist in its original form indefinitely.
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.
Areas of application ?
Wherever diamonds are not used.
Cathodoluminescence of a cut diamond
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