Facts About Diamonds

Natural Diamonds are formed deep in the ground under extreme pressure. They are the second purest form of carbon coming only after Graphite as the second hardest substance known to man.

Diamonds are formed from compressed carbon molecules at up to 200km under the earth’s surface where previously existing rock gets melted by the magma and new carbon molecules are formed. These carbon molecules are then compressed at extreme pressures for billions of years until they are forced to the earth’s surface by a volcanic eruption or from some other catastrophic event.  

If a Diamond is brought to the earth’s surface through a volcanic eruption, the diamonds come up through volcanic pipes or sometimes they are called Kimberlite pipes.  

These volcanic pipes are currents of magma that has flowed through the volcano’s melted wall or been physically ejected through the volcanic eruption and virtually spewed from deep within the earth to the surface. Usually though they flow up in volcanic pipes at a more sedate pace.  

Just because they have been ejected from deep within the earth doesn’t mean they will lie around on the ground waiting to be picked up by any passer-by.  

They will still be covered first by the cooling magma and then for millions of years by earth to varying depths waiting for the forces of erosion and time to free them ready for people to find them. 

Time here is in the millions of years, not centuries or decades, but millions of years. It takes a long, long time for a diamond to be produced and even then the chances of it being of gemstone quality are extremely small.   

Many diamonds today are found by people digging in the ground in war-torn Countries scratching out a meagre living scrabbling for Diamonds. Once these small stones have been found these poor people are then subjected to the whims of a tyrannical warlord or unscrupulous Diamond buyers who take advantage of these poor people’s predicament. When it comes to Diamonds there is not always a lot of morality around. 

These diamonds are often referred to as “blood Diamonds”.  

Years ago, when people first started using mechanical equipment to mine diamonds, they used to use what was called a ‘grease trap’. This grease trap consisted of a thick layer of a lanoline or Vaseline type substance spread across a sorting table that the ore had to pass over. As the fine ore particles, pushed along by water, flowed across this grease trap the diamonds would get stuck in the grease.  

If it was a larger stone it would be picked out by hand from a sorting conveyor belt before reaching the grease trap.  

Without doubt, there is probably a few loose diamonds that got missed with this inaccurate science of mining but in its day was the best available. Security at these mines was always vigilant and thieves were treated summarily.  

Today at a Diamond mine they use X-Ray machines. These special x-ray machines have set parameters so no diamond is missed.   

Years ago, I was told by one of the security personnel at Argyle Diamond Mine, that an exploratory mining company next door to them in the Kimberley region of Western Australia, called Flinders Diamond mine, had the parameters on their x-ray machine incorrectly set for the area and that a very big diamond had passed through to the slag heap.  

When a Diamond mining company is doing exploration, there is simply no way of knowing precisely what will be found. So Flinders Diamond Mining reset their X-Ray machine and processed the entire slag heap again. I believe the extra work proved worthwhile.  

Now that the diamond is above ground, it is evaluated. The largest percentage of diamonds found is industrial grade. It is only around 20% of all the Diamonds that are found to be of gemstone quality.   

The value of a gemstone quality diamond is based on the four “C’s”. That is Carat, Colour, Clarity and Cut.  

Carat is the measurement used to value a Diamond. A carat is roughly one fifth of a gram. 

The colour of a natural diamond is varied with the majority being brown or yellow. But Diamonds come in all colours with the green and red being the rarest. The coloured Diamonds are known as “party stones” and are rarely available in your local Jewellers store.  

The clarity of a Diamond is assessed by its inclusions and blemishes.  The blemishes on a Diamond though are only on the surface as there is nothing except Graphite hard enough to damage a Diamond.  The inclusions are inside the stone and will add or detract substantially from its value. 

After the four big “C’s” then comes the last “c”. This is the one that is probably going to affect you the most if you are thinking of purchasing a diamond; either as a present or as an investment, and that is the cost.  

Cost is assessed by the four big “C’s” above combined with rarity.  

Naturally a one carat diamond will hold much more rarity than a half carat diamond. The real value in a Diamond though is the love with which it is given to the recipient.