A lesson on golconda diamonds

Click here to watch a video on golconda diamonds:http://www.christies.com/features/2005-January-golconda-diamonds-140-3.aspx

Viewing diamonds

When viewing diamonds you should observe them under different types of light.
This is due to the fact that under one type of light you may not notice the flaw on your diamond.
The most important type of light the diamond should be viewed under is natuarl sunlight this is because this is how you will be viewing your diamond the most. A good quality diamond should sparkle and dazzle under light.
http://www.diamonddealerdirect.co.uk/wdtabs.files/lightabsortion

Diamonds the hardest substance of earth

Although diamonds are the hardest substance on earth they are not indestructable. They can chip and they can scratch but chips can be fixed. They can be repaired by polishing or using a substance that can fill in chips and make the diamond look better.
  Diamond with a chip
http://www.goodoldgold.com/classic/clarity

Diamond prices

There are four factors that effect the price of diamonds.The four Cs-
1. Cut
2.Colour Grade
3.Clarity
4.Carat

1.Cut, this is the shape of the diamond.There are seven main shapes of diamond these are round brilliant,
emerald cut,princess cut,heart cut,oval cut,marquise cut and pear cut.

2.Colour Grade, Diamonds are given grades from the letter D being the best to the letters StoZ being the worst. The grades are D-pure white-the most prized colour,E-exceptional white-colourless group,F-excellent white-colourless group,G-good white-colourless group,H-white - colourless group,I-slightly tinted white
J-slightly tinted white,K-tinted white,L-tinted white,M-slightly yellowish-champagne coloured,N-slightly yellowish-champagne colour,O-R-yellowish,S-Z-yellowish.

3.Clarity-the best possible diamond would have perfect clarity and the worst possible diamond would have obviously flawed.

4.Carat is the term used to express the weight of a diamond, with one carat=200 milligrams of actual weight.

diamond mining

The following countries have active diamond mines, Africa-Angola,Botswana,Congo,

Lesotho,Namibia,Sierra Leone,South Africa,Tanzania,Zimbabwe. Australia-East Kimberley.Borneo-Cempaka.Canada-North West Territories .India-Madhya Pradesh.Russia-Siberia.

http://www.mapsofworld.com/minerals/maps/world-diamond-producers.jpg

There are five different types of diamond mines-

1. Artisanal Mining
2. Hard Rock Mining
3. Marine Mining
4. Open Pit Mining
5. Placer Mining

1.Artisanal Mining  consists of nothing more that digging and sifting through gravel river-bank alluvial deposits or mud using things such as  the diggers bare hands, shovels, or large conical sieves. People who work in artisanal diamond mines are nicknamed diamond diggers. Artisanal diamond mining is a form of  non-mechanized mining. Non mechanized means it does no use any machines in the process of mining the diamonds.

2.Hard Rock Mining is using a variety of different techniques that are used to mine by tunneling underground and creating stopes underground which are supported by timber pillars. To access this involves a decline. A decline is a spiral tunnel which circles the sides around the deposit  or access it through a shaft, which is a vertical tunnel used to transport mined goods.

3.Marine Mining is mining diamonds off shore in placer deposits.Vertical and horizontal techniques are used to extract diamonds at the maximun depth of five hundred feet.Vertical marine mining is when a six to seven meter diameter drill is used to cut into the seabed and vaccum the materials from the seabed.Horizontal mining uses seabed crawlers to move across the seabed pumping the materials into an offshore vessel.On board the vessel the materials are separated and classified into three groups relative to size.

4. Open Pit Mining is a method of mining minerals and rocks from the earth by using a machine extracted burrow.Open pit mining is used when material on the surface is covering valuable materials are stuck in structually unstable earth.

5. Placer Mining is used for extracting diamonds and minerals from alluvial ,eluvial and or secondary deposits, and is a  form of open-cast mining that is used to extract minerals from the surface of the earth without the use of tunneling. Mining is accomplished using hydraulic mining ,mechanized surface excavating equipment, or hand digging.The extracted materials are then catagorised into various catagories.

the make up and formation of diamonds

The word diamond comes from the Greek word adamas, adamas translates to indestructible.
Diamonds are made up of a covalent bond of carbon atoms. The structure of a diamond consists of
eight carbon atoms, these eight carbon atoms are bonded together to form a cube shape. Diamonds are incredibly hard due to the formation and the tight linking of the eight carbon atoms. Diamond is the only gem that is composed by a single element.
 Carbon atoms
http://www.chemguide.co.uk/atoms/structures/diamond
Diamonds are formed between seventy-five to one hundred and twenty miles beneath the earths surface. Diamonds are formed  under specific conditions, the conditions are pressure, temperature and chemistry. once the diamond is formed it can take thousands of years for the diamond to reach the earths surface where it can be mined. Geographical based events, such as earthquakes or volcanoes can cause the diamonds to surface, in ways e such as such as alluvial deposits (in riverbeds) or kimberlite pipes (primary diamond mines).
 Rough diamond
  http://diamondphotos.blogspot.com/

Introduction

Hello i am Stephanie and welcome to my blog about the geography of diamonds.
In my blog i will be writing about things like the formation of diamonds and where in the world they are mined.
I hope you enjoy!