Where are the most diamonds mined?

People have always worshiped jewelry. Stones and metals not only conquered their minds, but also became the cause of wars. Some were ready to give their lives for them, while others were ready to take it away. Which jewels have almost always been the most valuable? Of course, it’s gold and diamonds. They have even become a household name in their category. With gold, everything is more or less clear. It is mined, smelted, and so on, but what path does a diamond take from the first shovel stuck into the ground at the mine to the royal crown is a big question. Moreover, gold has always been mined in the same way, plus or minus, which cannot be said about diamonds. There really is room for improvement and development in terms of technology. They are too beautiful not to be considered precious.

Where do diamonds come from?

First of all, let’s figure it out, where do diamonds come from, and how they appear in the depths of our planet. If you are already familiar with this or it is not very interesting to you, just scroll to the next point. Diamond is the hardest mineral in the world. There is even a so-called Mohs scale, which is often used to determine the hardness of objects. Most often, recently, this scale can be encountered when determining the resistance of a smartphone screen to scratches. Without going into detail, it consists of 10 steps in which the hardness corresponds to the hardness of various substances – from talc to diamond. That is, diamond is considered the standard of hardness. Diamond is a crystalline modification of pure carbon and is considered one of the most expensive stones. Transparent stones are especially prized and with a slight tint of blue. The remaining impurities are considered defective, but sometimes they are also valued very highly. The main places where diamonds are formed are areas of continents where no geological activity has occurred for a long time. This process occurs at great depths – approximately from 100 to 200 kilometers. This depth was chosen based on the conditions that are created there. Man cannot create such beauty. Only nature is capable of this. The temperature at this depth reaches 1 degrees Celsius, and the pressure often exceeds the mark 40 atmospheres. It is precisely this pressure and temperature that can change the crystalline structure of carbon so much that this stone turns out to be on the verge of fantasy. Artificial diamonds obtained in laboratories since the 60s of the last century. Recently, experiments have been carried out on the production of diamonds by creating pressure through a directed explosion. But all this is more reminiscent of some kind of alchemy. Although formally some insignificant diamond particles do form. It must be said right away that no one goes to such depths to extract diamonds, since over billions of years they gradually come out on their own. They do this by being carried to the surface with kimberlite magma. This is how primary diamond deposits are formed. And yet they are beautiful. The definition of “kimberlite pipes” appeared after the first such pipe was discovered in the Kimberley province in southern Africa. They began to be called kimberlite, and the rock that contains diamonds was called kimberlite. Now in the world there is thousands of kimberlite pipes, but diamond mining is not profitable in all places. There are only a few dozen places in the world where it really makes sense to do this. This is what a kimberlite pipe looks like.

Diamond mining sites

Countries that have a lot of diamonds are very disparate in their level of economic development, social sphere, religion, and so on. However, they were lucky to be in the very places where diamond mining really makes sense.

Countries where diamonds are mined

• Russia — 40,32 million carats per year
• Congo — 23,20 million carats per year
• Botswana — 20,50 million carats per year
• Australia — 13,96 million carats per year
• Canada — 13,3 million carats per year
• Angola — 8,7 million carats per year
• South Africa — 8,3 million carats per year

Where are diamonds mined in Russia?

• Yakutia
• Arkhangelsk region
• Murmansk region
• Karelia
• Perm

How to find a diamond deposit

The diamond industry has one big problem. At one time, exploration of deposits was carried out in secret. That is why not all methods for determining their occurrence are still known. Of course, there are modern methods, but those who do this are still in no hurry to share their secrets, since there’s a lot of money at stake.

The greatest likelihood of finding diamonds is in the area of ​​volcanoes that have been extinct for a long time. It is there that a “natural laboratory” is often created, in which there will be all the conditions for growing these minerals and delivering them to the surface.
Diamonds can also be found in the area of ​​river beds that carry igneous rocks. Much attention should also be paid to meteorites, where diamonds are often found at their fall sites.

This formation of SU-30 and MiG-29 aerobatic teams is called the “Cuban Diamond” by Russian Knights and Swifts. The word “diamond” emphasizes the entire value of the figure.

How diamonds are mined

The most difficult task in mining diamonds is that to obtain them you need to process tons of ore. It is usually believed that one ton of rock contains an average of 1-2 carats (0,2-0,4 grams) of diamonds, the size of which will further decrease during cutting.

Sometimes diamond mining is even possible by hand, and most often this method is available in Africa. But, as a rule, you have to work more thoroughly and carry out significantly larger-scale excavations. In general, the technology is somewhat reminiscent of gold panning, the only question is how many minerals are in the rock and over what area they are “scattered.”

It is from such a “hole in the ground” that diamonds are mined. Notice how much larger it is than the stadium.

The simplest and most inexpensive method of extraction is open-pit mining. First, the top layer of soil is removed, and then the quarry is gradually deepened by collapsing its walls with directed explosions. The rock is transported by quarry trucks to mining and processing plants (GOKs). This is where the ore is processed.

Craters often descend hundreds of meters deep into the earth, and their area is comparable to the area of ​​small cities.

The second method is much more difficult to implement and is called closed. In this case, mines are drilled in which production is carried out. Firstly, you need to use sophisticated drilling equipment (as opposed to simple and relatively cheap explosions), and secondly, there is no such room for maneuver as when you simply “dig a hole” and remove the earth from it.

Mines are used in cases where it is impossible to use the open method for one reason or another. They’re drilling to a depth of up to a kilometer (and sometimes more), after which the rock rises to the top and is also sent to the mining and processing plants.

Such monsters transport ore to mining and processing plants.

When open-pit mining is no longer possible and the quarry cannot be expanded further, open-pit mining begins. The mines are drilled vertical and inclined, and the step between them should not exceed one hundred meters. So the work continues as long as there is economic benefit.

Diamond mining work is carried out in three shifts of 7 hours and never stops, and to ensure fishing, mining towns with all the infrastructure are often built nearby, including hospitals, shops, sports facilities and even airports. Because often the only way to get to such places is by air.

To understand the size of a mining truck, you can show this photo. The truck simply did not notice and ran over the pickup.

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 roar (special screening machine) and subjected 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.

How is a diamond different from a diamond?

Many people confuse these two words, but they are what distinguish the mined mineral from the finished piece of jewelry. The moment a mineral is in the ground, in the back of a mining truck, or in a warehouse awaiting cutting, it is a diamond. Once it is processed, it becomes a diamond.

Few people know, but diamonds can be broken, if you hit them very hard. They split into pieces along planes parallel to the faces of a regular octahedron. This is exactly the structure it has. Roughly speaking, it is splitting “at the seams.”

The word diamond translated from French “brilliant” means “brilliant”. This is exactly what it becomes after processing, and the processing itself involves applying 57 or 58 facets to the surface of the stone. They refract light and give the stone that very radiance for which it is so valued.

On the left is a diamond, on the right is a diamond. There is a difference, right?

About 75 percent of diamonds sold in the world are classically cut. This form consists of the following elements:

• Crown (top)
• Girdle (widest part)
• Pavilion (lower part)

Despite the fact that the diamond itself will be beautiful even with cutting defects, and only a specialist can recognize the defect, a special technique is used here. Craftsmen have been studying how to cut diamonds correctly for many years, and they must observe the proportions of the cut as correctly as possible.

If the cut is made other than the classic or fancy shape, it is divided into two types. Without going into detail, this is a shape closer to round or, conversely, closer to an elongated shape.

The most famous diamonds

Diamond Kohinoor

Without a doubt, today the most famous diamond in the world is “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—unheard of money at that time. Bought a stone Charles Tiffany. 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 showcase store on Fifth Avenue in NYC. 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, symbol of power and a simply enchanting shine that “blows the roof away.” 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.

A unique diamond weighing 390,7 carats was mined in Russia at the Mayat diamond mine in the Anabar region of Yakutia in September 2023! What do we know about diamond mining? How can something so beautiful at the same time be so destructive to nature? And can we do without diamonds?

First, let’s look at the composition: diamonds are a crystallized form of carbon that has been subjected to very high temperatures and pressure. Some diamonds even come to us from outer space, formed when asteroids collide with the Earth’s surface. But most of these precious stones are still mined from deposits, like other minerals.

Diamond ore occurs in kimberlite pipes—frozen “geysers” of magma that erupt from the mantle into the earth’s crust. According to some estimates, the last kimberlite eruption occurred about 40 million years ago. Such a pipe was first discovered in the middle of the XNUMXth century in the city of Kimberley, South Africa—that’s where the name of this geological phenomenon came from.

The world’s diamond reserves are estimated at approximately 1,8 billion carats, more than 60% of which are concentrated in Russia (1,1 billion). Next come Botswana – 300 million, Congo – 150 million and South Africa – 120 million. Moreover, only a third of diamonds are currently mined in the Russian Federation.

The leaders in gemstone mining are member companies of the Diamond Producers Association (DPA): ALROSA, De Beers Group, Dominion Diamond Mines, Lucara Diamond Corp., Murowa Diamonds, Petra Diamonds and Rio Tinto – they employ more than 77 thousand people throughout to the world.

For most of us, diamonds are primarily jewelry, but almost no industry can do without these precious stones. It’s all about the incredibly high strength of diamonds, which is significantly superior to other materials. This makes diamonds ideal tips for cutters and drills that are used in the processing of metals, carbide, glass and other synthetic materials. Diamond powder is used for cutting other precious stones, including diamonds themselves.

So, diamond mining is not a whim, but a necessity for humanity. But how does it affect the environment?

Opening a deposit

When opening a mine, mining and exploration companies face the daunting task of not only finding kimberlite deposits, but also determining whether they contain diamonds and whether there are enough of them to support profitable production. According to The report of Statista, global spending on diamond exploration alone amounts to more than $1 billion a year.

These precious stones are mined in three ways: open-pit (quarry), closed (mine), placer.

Destructive quarries

Kimberlite pipes have the shape of a cone, the base of which reaches the surface, and the tip goes deep into the earth’s crust for 2 km or more. This form of occurrence of diamond ores allows for open-pit mining, so diamonds concentrated no deeper than 600 m are mined in quarries.

The open-pit mining method is technically simpler than others and costs companies less. But at the same time, it also causes the greatest harm to the environment. Layers of sand and rock above the kimberlite must be removed. The ore in the quarry is then crushed by explosion. After blasting, rock fragments are loaded onto dump trucks and transported to the processing plant. This process leads to soil erosion and heavy metal contamination of water, reducing the habitats of plants and animals.

Open-pit mining causes the greatest destruction of land, landscapes and ecosystems. This is a giant crater in the ground where there could be plant and animal communities.

As a rule, when the depth of a quarry reaches 300-600 meters, it is closed, and further development is carried out underground.

Mines: it’s not that simple

This mining method requires much more costs than quarry mining. Miners are tunneling through the earth’s crust to reach a kimberlite pipe. The tunnels are built on two levels, one above the other, with funnels connecting them. At the upper level, rock is blasted, which falls through the craters and is collected in the second tunnel. Here, loaders collect the broken ore and bring it to the surface for processing. The temperature in the shats is very low, they are also constantly flooded with highly mineralized groundwater, which must be pumped out.

To discharge these waters, they must be purified. But purification, as a rule, turns out to be unprofitable for mining companies, especially when it comes to heavy metals. Therefore, most often the water is simply dumped and fines are paid.

In addition to the environment, these conditions pose a serious risk to mine workers. Thus, the Mirny deposit was completely closed after the 2017 accident, which occurred precisely because of the flooding of the underground mine: as a result, eight miners died. According to environmentalists, restoring the ecological balance in the quarry will take decades.

Blood Diamonds

In Congo, Namibia, South and Central African Republic, Angola, and Zimbabwe, diamond mining causes not only environmental but also social harm. According to a magazine investigation Time, hundreds of miners in African countries die every year as a result of tunnel collapses. In some mines, child labor is used, and in general, workers are exploited for wages hundreds of times less than what they receive in Europe and America for similar positions. And during periods of instability in these regions, miners often become victims of local armed groups who try to take control of lucrative production.

It is no coincidence that there is even a special term – “blood diamonds” – denoting diamonds mined in the territory of military conflicts. The money from their sales actually funds armed groups and warlords, thereby generating further violence. That is why in 2003 the diamond industry created Kimberley Process – an international certification system designed to reassure consumers that the diamonds they buy were not mined in a military conflict zone. Certification has reduced the number of diamonds from war zones on the market, but the problem is so global that it is not yet possible to completely stop the flow of “blood diamonds” to the market.

Placer pitfalls

A placer deposit is a place where kimberlite has been destroyed, where rain, streams and groundwater have eroded the rock over thousands of years, carrying away rubble and pebbles along with precious stones. Such diamonds are often found in a layer of gravel with other materials such as mud, clay and underwater vegetation.

Industrial alluvium requires the construction of a large wall to collect water in one area, where the gravel is collected and then brought to the surface and prepared for processing.

Of all the mining methods, placers would be the least harmful if there weren’t so many of them. Because of them, natural river beds and ecosystems are destroyed. The placers are not covered or reclaimed—this process is assessed as not economically feasible.

In global diamond production, placer diamonds on average account for about 20% of total production. In Russia, diamonds are mined this way in the Urals and Yakutia.

One carat per ton of gangue

After diamond ore is extracted, it is sent to a processing plant, where it undergoes several stages of purification. At the same time, even at the richest deposits in the world there are only 5 carats per ton of spent ore – that is, the volume of waste is very large.

The waste is sent to giant tailings dumps that destroy local ecosystems. Hundreds of thousands of tons of waste ore not only destroy all life on the territory of the tailings dump itself, but also pollute ground and surface waters. At the same time, the process is not controlled by Russian legislation, despite the significant damage.

Waste at tailings dumps is considered safe (hazard class 5): it is assumed that migration of substances will not occur here, since the rock has not changed. In reality, all elements end up in the open air and water, which triggers oxidative processes.

Mine closure and reclamation

Most often, quarries and mines are simply abandoned. Now the number of such objects in the world has exceeded one million. Neighborhood with them leads to serious health problems for residents of neighboring cities and villages.

Reclamation in Russia, as a rule, begins to be planned a year before the closure of the field, although this must be done at the design stage. Closing is an expensive process; if the company comes to it only at the end of work, there are no funds for it, since the deposit has already been developed. In the USA and Kazakhstan, liquidation funds are created for these purposes: enterprises calculate the amount of closure costs in advance and transfer them to the fund annually. The money is kept by the state in case something happens to the company.

Are artificial diamonds a panacea for the planet?

Synthetic diamonds have become increasingly popular and affordable in recent decades. To create them, carbon (soot, graphite, sugar coal, etc.), high pressure (more than 50 thousand atmospheres) and temperatures above 1200 ° C are required.

Lab diamonds are nearly identical in physical, chemical and cosmetic characteristics to mined diamonds. They may even have better clarity, making them brighter. Overall, making diamonds in a laboratory compares favorably with the methods used to mine natural diamonds. It does not cause as much environmental damage as mining, which requires the removal of land and the consumption of fresh water and fossil fuels.

Mined diamonds consume more than 573 liters of water per carat, while artificial diamonds consume only 82. Also, quarrying leads to the destruction of ecosystems over a huge area.

But with artificial diamonds, not everything is so simple. Growing them requires a lot of energy, which does not always come from renewable sources. A lot of diamonds are grown in China, where coal power dominates – this leads to indirect emissions. Another factor is economic: many regions depend on the diamond industry. For example, tax and dividend payments from ALROSA account for approximately half of the revenue side of the budget of Yakutia.

What’s next?

Traditional diamond mining is unlikely to become a thing of the past anytime soon: the mines still remain the main source of income for many regions and even entire countries. For example, in Yakutia, diamonds will remain the main sector of the region’s economy at least until 2030. But one thing is clear – companies need to change their approach: they become more sustainable, responsible and transparent. It’s been going down this path for several years now. Tiffany & Co, disclosing all information about the origin of diamonds in their products.

Ideally, companies should conduct background research, assess what was there before construction, and analyze both environmental and social impacts at the design stage. It is important for enterprises to learn how to minimize damage and develop deposits responsibly. Many companies are already following this path, which means not all is lost.