Russia's Secret Stash

[lawson_jeremy]

http://gizmodo.com/5944282/russia-h...ater-than-the-rest-of-the-world-does-combined

Doing the usual splurge on Gizmodo and saw this. Russia has a secret stash of diamonds. Now don't take it literally, they do not physically have precut diamonds tucked away somewhere. If you take a second to read the article you'll find the details.
Pretty interesting read. Just thought I'd share!

 

[m0nk]

Very interesting read. It's definitely difficult to imagine billions of carats, just sitting there waiting for excavation...

 

[Tomasso]

Diamonds are not as rare a commodity as some *cough* De Beers *cough* would have you believe.

 

[dhermann1]

"Can't be used as gems". They're industrial diamonds. Still pretty cool.

 

[David Conwill]

Interesting read. Why aren't they suitable for use as jewelry?

 

[ButteMT61]

Interesting read. Why aren't they suitable for use as jewelry?

The C's.
Color
Clarity
Cut
Carat

 

[Bluebird Marsha]

Interesting read. Why aren't they suitable for use as jewelry?

If the Russians are sure about how much diamond is in that location, then they are definitely impact diamonds. I've read a couple of ideas as to how that large a field could be created, but essentially...

Meteor/comet plows into the Earth, in an area high in graphite/carbon/pre-existing diamond field. The high speed and heat from the impactor cause the diamonds to form/reform. This creates super hard diamonds. But they're very hard, but not very pretty. They're the kind that end up on cutting tools.

And yes, diamonds aren't anywhere near as rare as the diamond companies would have us believe. They may sparkle, but they're still just carbonized pencil lead.

 

[ButteMT61]

Diamonds usually are contaminated with other minerals, which is one reason they're so utilized in tools and manufacturing. They're also manufactured with high temp/pressure equipment. The Japanese do a lot of that. I did it in our lab at UCLA for years. Diamonds are plentiful. But in gem quality less so. That said, the Russians have (DeBeers) the market basically cornered and stored to keep prices and desirability high.