Oldest diamonds discovered in the world

Geology - In Australia, researchers have found diamonds, which are
more than four billion years old, making it only slightly younger than
the Earth itself as jewelry are not good are the microscopically small
stones. Nevertheless, they are very valuable for the research because
they allow conclusions about the early history of the earth.

Seven million years could be measuring wrong, but something like a
huge uncertainty, disappears in the face of the dimensions at issue
here: 4.252 billion years old are the diamonds, the researchers at the
University of Muenster have been excavated in Australia. "We have
worked with the diamond carbon, the oldest relic in hand," said the
mineralogist Thorsten Geisler. Carbon is a basic building block of
life.

Report their find Geisler and his collaborator Martina Menneken in the
British science journal "Nature" (vol. 448, p. 917). Although diamonds
can not be dated directly, but these pieces of jewelry from the early
history of the earth in the mineral zircon included. And the age of
zircons can be determined absolutely.

Few rocks of the earth's crust are older than 3.7 billion years and no
older than 4.03 billion years, the Australian geoscientists Ian
Williams writes in an accompanying article in "Nature". The accidental
discovery - actually investigate Geisler, and her team Menneken
zircons yes - because of its immense age is extremely important for
the study of Earth's history. "The earliest period of the planet's
history between the formation of Earth 4.5 billion years ago and the
formation of the oldest known rocks 500 million years later, the
geological equivalent of the Middle Ages," writes Williams.

And this middle age, geologists argue violently. The young Earth
cooled quickly, so that could make rocks (and later also the first
life) faster than thought? "It is possible that the cooling of the
earth and thus the formation of a solid crust began much earlier than
previously thought," said Geisler. Could have developed so that the
continents and the first life on the once barren earth sooner than
previously thought. The oldest known diamonds found were dated to an
age of about 3.3 billion years ago.

The opposite is also conceivable. With an analysis of traces of
nitrogen in the artefacts will now be examined whether the diamonds
but only relatively short time under high pressure in the mantle or
spent relatively long but came under reduced pressure before they were
trapped in zircon.

Curated by Martin Geisler Young Scientist Menneken is only 25 years
old. She had studied zircon inclusions in the Australian sediments.
Almost by chance, she found in 45 of 1000 analyzed zircons eventually
the diamond crystals. However, they are large only between 10 and 60
microns - too small to detect by the human eye and only under the
microscope.

diamond mining equipment for west sahara

Rich deposits

Commodity discoveries in Western Sahara

22nd August 2011 18:10

Diamonds and gold complicate simmering conflict

Rabat / Granada - Rich deposits of diamonds, gold, uranium, copper, nickel, zinc, lead and cobalt were discovered by Metalex Ventures Canadian mining companies in the Western Sahara occupied by Morocco. Mainly in the controlled by the Polisario Front independence movement, Democratic Republic of Western Sahara as well as in border regions of Mauritania. Morocco is located in the state for decades in conflict with the Polisario Front.

 

In 2005, the Canadian Government of Morocco had been entrusted with the search. Over four months of flight hours, the Canadians will still need to create a space of more than 17,000 square kilometers in the air to map by means of magnetic and radiological measurements.

 

A 2.6 billion years old crater of an extinct volcano to contain kimberlite diamonds and gold mine of Tasiast (Mauritania), 21 million ounces of precious metal. The also will need diamond mining equipment to mine in that area.

 

Since the withdrawal of Spanish colonial power in Mauritania in 1975 occupied only a portion of the populated region of the Sahrawi desert in southern Morocco. King Hassan II called then for the "Green March" in which hundreds of thousands of Moroccans underpinned by foot to their claim to the breakaway region.

 

Delivered until the armistice on UN mediation in 1991, the Frente Polisario - supported by Algeria - fierce battles with the Moroccan army. In negotiations, the parties have so far not really converge. Morocco's King Mohammed VI. wants to grant maximum autonomy, while Polisario insists on a UN peace plan in the referendum on independence set. (Jam, DER STANDARD, print edition, 08/23/2011)

 

Diamonds and uranium production in Namibia is collapsing

Substantial investment required
Diamonds and uranium production in Namibia is collapsing
Written by Editor • 31 August 2011 • Print version

The diamond production in Namibia was in the second quarter of this year, more than halved and is now only at 208 000 carats, the expert report of Capricorn Investment Holdings. On average, the production from April to late June, only 45% of the emissions of the same quarter of 2010 had amounted. This was the lowest production level since the first quarter of 2009, it said.

In the past two years is the diamond production fell substantially, mainly due to lower demand resulting from the recession of 2008. According Capricorn Namibia will also soon reach the maximum production potential. A problem for diamonds for sale in NamibiaTo prevent this significant investment in technology and infrastructure are necessary, the mining companies had not been assured.

Also, the uranium production in the country located in southern Africa has declined in the second quarter. It fell from 2.35 to 2.09 million pounds compared with the previous quarter. This was due in large part to difficult weather conditions, Capricorn explained, as some mines have been flooded due to heavy rains. Two large uranium producers are active in Namibia, Rio Tinto (WKN 855 018) and Paladin Energy (WKN 890 889).

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Why diamonds can be ground at all
29. November 2010, 17:28 Why can not at all polished diamonds have now scientists from the Fraunhofer Institute for Mechanics of Materials IWM in Freiburg found.

Researchers decipher atomic mechanism of the diamond processing: A "glass-like carbon phase" makes it possible
Freiburg - It is the hardest material in the world, and yet can grind diamond itself. Already 600 years ago were first diamond cut and the precious stones were quick to most expensive jewelry, and later became indispensable industrial tool. Now a team led by Lars Pastewka and Michael Moseler from the Fraunhofer Institute for Mechanics of Materials IWM in Freiburg has revealed the secret of why diamond can work at all.

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The research findings represent a major step in tribology, ie the friction and wear research, which is now understood despite its importance for the industry to its scientific basis is still largely.

For centuries, diamonds are cut by skilled craftsmen in a Cast iron wheel, which is peppered with fine diamond chips and fast, with tip speeds of about 30 meters per second, rotating. At the sound of the grinding wheel and with their proverbial tact recognized by experienced diamond cutter, like they have to keep the diamond in the rough to smooth it and to get a polished surface before they can enter the diamond trade for sale. .

No more diamond

That diamond reacts depending on the direction, has long been known. Physically, the phenomenon is called anisotropy. The carbon atoms in diamond lattice planes and shapes depending on how you turn the diamond, with one from levels that are easier or harder to polish.

For centuries, scientists are looking for a plausible explanation of this empirically proven Anistropie - so far without success. Nor could now be explained, how can it be that the hardest material can be processed at all. The Freiburg scientists have now answered both questions with a newly developed computational method. The result of Michael Moser brings so to the point: "The moment in which the diamond is cut, the diamond diamond no more."

New "glass-like carbon phase"

In a mechano-chemical processes - by the rapid friction between the diamond chips in Cast iron wheel and the rough diamonds to be polished - a completely different "glass-like carbon phase" on the gemstone surface. How quickly this occurs material phase depends crucially on the crystal orientation of the rough diamonds. "Right here that is said anisotropy comes into play," said Moser.

The newly formed material on the diamond surface, Moselle, in the end in two ways "peeled off": The plane effect of the sharp-edged diamond chips in the wheel scratch continuously from small carbon dust particles from the surface, which in its original state it would not be possible because of the diamond too hard and the binding forces would therefore be too high. The second, equally significant attack on the otherwise impenetrable hard crystal surface, the oxygen does in the air. Meanwhile, O2 molecules bind one carbon atom from the unstable, long carbon chains that have formed on top of the glassy phase: The result is carbon dioxide.

And how could calculate when and how individual atoms are dissolved from the crystalline surface? "Was essential if we took a look at exactly what happens quantum mechanically, when a bond breaks between the atoms on the surface of rough diamonds. We have analyzed the particular field of force between the atoms exactly," said Lars Pastewka.

Exact model

Know these forces accurately enough, one could arise and the breaking of the new chemical bonds between the atoms accurately describe - and model. "And on this basis, we have studied the dynamics of atoms in the friction between a diamond and precious stone chips," adds Pastewka. To this end, he and his colleagues, the paths of about 10,000 carbon atoms calculated and is monitoring the screen. Their equation was: Your model can explain all the processes of long opaque diamond polishing.

The model is not only a milestone in the diamond research, "it demonstrates much more are also using modern methods of materials modeling, friction and wear processes on the atomic level to the macroscopic object can be described accurately," says institute director Peter Gumbsch. He sees this as an example of the plurality of wear issues in the industry is still waiting for a solution. This will turn to the Fraunhofer IWM in his Mikrotribologiezentrum μTC under the motto: "Tribology make predictable. His knowledge makes the team in the current online issue of Nature Materials to the public.

Diamond monopoly Alrosa recorded about 75 million euro net profit

 

Tuesday, 08/10/2010

The Russian diamond producer Alrosa has booked in the first half of 2010 net income of 2.959 billion rubles (more than 75 million euros).

Moscow (RIA Novosti) - As the company announced on Tuesday, has the receipts in the first six months, according to Russian accounting standards to 13.412 billion rubles (about € 339 million) has almost quadrupled. Over the space of the previous year's Alrosa had yet to lose out from 14.675 billion rubles.

 Alrosa is specialized in exploration, production and sales of rough diamonds and in the production of diamonds. To companies account for 25 percent of the world and 97 percent of Russia's diamond production. 2009 Alrosa stones supported a total of $ 2,244,000,000 and continued to diamond and diamonds for $ 1,187,000,000.

Diamond Material

DIAMOND. A highly transparent and exceedingly hard crystalline
stone of almost pure carbon, 99% of the isotope carbon 12. When pure,
it is colorless, but it often shows tints of white, gray, blue, yellow, or
green. It is the hardest known substance and is 10 on the Mohs hardness
scale. But the Mohs scale is only an approximation, and the
hardness of the diamond ranges from Knoop 5,500 to 7,000 compared
with 2,670 to 2,940 for boron carbide, which has a Mohs hardness of 9.
The diamond always occurs in crystals in the cubic system and has
a specific gravity of 3.521 and a refractive index of 2.417. Carbon is
normally quadrivalent in flat planes, but in the diamond the carbon
atoms are arranged in face-centered lattices forming interlocking
tetrahedrons and also hexagonal rings in each cleavage plane.
The diamond has been valued since ancient times as a gemstone,
but it is used extensively as an abrasive, for cutting tools, and for
dies for drawing wire. These industrial diamonds are diamonds
that are too hard or too radial-grained for good jewel cutting. Jewel
diamonds have the formation in regular layers, while industrial
diamonds are grown in all directions. Technically these are called
feinig and naetig. Ballas diamonds, valued for industrial drilling,
are formed with the crystallization starting from one central point.
The stones thus formed do not crack in the tool as easily as those with
layer formation. Stones for diamond dies are examined in polarized
light to determine the presence of internal stresses. They are then
drilled normal to the rhombic dodecahedron plane with cleavage
planes parallel to the die-hole axis to obtain the greatest die-service
life. The stones for industrial purposes are also the fragments and the
so-called bort which consists of the cull stones from the gem industry
including stones of radiating crystallization that will not polish well.
Bort also includes a cryptocrystalline variety of diamond in brown,
gray, or black, known as black diamonds, carbonados, or carbons,
found in Brazil in association with gem diamonds. The carbons have
no cleavage planes, are compact, and thus offer greater resistance to
breaking forces. The carbons vary greatly in quality and hardness.
Some rare natural diamonds of South America contain small amounts
of aluminum and other elements which give stability to the crystal
above the normal disintegrating temperature. These diamonds are
not suitable as gemstones but are efficient semiconductors.

From the diamond materials handbook please purchase, if you'd like to read more

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