5 movies about diamonds

5 Movies about Diamonds

Throughout the entire world, Diamonds are sought after for their allure, their brilliance, their value, their fascination and the temptation they present. The temptation I refer to, is to steal them, purely because they cost way too much to buy and a handful of diamonds can equate to hundreds of millions of dollars.  As such several movies have been produced highlighting how people are tempted by the value of Diamonds. The following movies are not necessarily in any particular order but depicts the extremes some people would resort to, to get their hands on those valuable and sparkly gems. 

Admittedly most of these films are fictional  but there is a few of them based on true events, for example the  'Antwerp Diamond Center heist'. The snatch-and-grab at the jewelry shop in the 'Carlton Hotel, Cannes, France' and the diamond heists at the 'Millennium Dome, London, England' worth $700 million and the 'Diamond exhibit Heists at the Museon', a science museum in The Hague, Netherlands are all actual events upon which Holywood movies are based.

1) 'Flawless' is a unique property of the most expensive diamonds and is also the name of a movie. This British fictional crime movie by the name 'Flawless' is about, a soon to be retired janitor (Michael Caine) who convinces a frustrated diamantaire (Demi Moore) to help him steal a batch of diamonds from their employer, the London Diamond Corp. 'Flawless' has a timid plot but over all its a a rare gem.

2) 'Blood diamond' is a movie set during the civil war in Sierra Leone in 1990s. It depicts a story of human suffering and violence and how the guerrilla insurgency rape women, exploit  and enslave children to pan for diamonds. The main plot revolves around a pink diamond the size of a bird's egg, that draws the attention of a South African mercenary played by Leonardo DiCaprio who has been smuggling diamonds across the borders embeded in the flesh of live sheep. While the sub plot is about a journalist intent on fingering the white-collar criminals in the diamond trade.

3) The 'Pink Panther' is a movie about a fictional pink diamond with an internal flaw shaped like a leaping panther. The movie stars police inspector Peter Sellers and David Niven and his nephew Robert Wagner as  thieves. Both thieves  intending to steal the diamond, the nephew attempting to setup his uncle for the theft. However there is a real pink panther diamond better known as the 59.60 carats oval pink star that sold on auction in Geneva for a whopping $83 million.

4) 'Diamonds are Forever' stars Sean Connery as investigator extraordinaire MI6 agent tracking the mysterious activities in the world diamond market by impersonating a diamond smuggler. The movie was first flighted in 1971. In the movie, it turns out Charles Gray is stockpiling South African diamonds  in order to depress prices by dumping the gems in his space-based laser satellite weapon, intent on auctioning off nuclear supremacy to the highest bidder. Several smugglers who pass on the diamonds from one to the other are killed in the process but professional smuggler Tiffany Case (Jill St. John) Tiffany.



5) 'Diamond Cartel' is the newest upcoming action movie about diamonds, directed by Salamat Mukhammed-Ali and written by Magamet Bachaev. However this movie was made in 2011-2013 but recut and redubbed by US based Cleopatra Entertainment, for the english market in 2017,  Movie stars Armand Assante, Peter O'Toole, Bolo Yeung and Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa, etc. Assante makes a deal with Hong Kong triad crime boss to purchase the "Star of East Diamond". but before the deal is made, his former lover and her new man robs him. They are hunted down my  Assante 's henchmen  and the couple have to fight for their lives.

Kimberlite

Kimberlite

The Mir Russian diamond mine is the most expensive hole in the world and it is owned by the state-controlled company Alrosa. Mir mine also known as Mirny, is approximately 525 meters deep with a diameter of 1.2 kilometers.  It's been dubbed 'Diamond City' and is valued at a cool £13 Billion. From the image below, it looks like the mining town was  struck by a giant meteorite. That being said,  the crater contains approximately 300,000 cubic meters of acidic water, which roughly equates in volume to 120 Olympic-size swimming pools. 

The Big Hole

This huge open mine is man made  and produces about a quarter of the world's diamond output. Its vast riches helped transform the USSR under Joseph Stalin, from a war torn impoverished nation into a post-World War2 superpower. But open mining ceased in and around 2004, when a series of underground tunnels and shafts where excavated that produced more than six million carats of rough diamonds.

Kimberlite is diamond bearing blue rock pushed to the earths surface by volcanic magma.
The open mine is almost as large as the town of Mirny, Sakha Republic, Yakutia, Siberia 

Be that as it may, just last week mine workers recorded dangerously high levels of underground water in these very shafts, resulting in the installation of extra pumps to pump it out. However, on Friday morning whilst more than 150 people were working these underground shafts, torrents of water flooded the mine shafts and tunnels, which may have burst through from the water filler crater. 

EMERCOM (Ministry of the Russian Federation for Affairs for Civil Defence, Emergencies and Elimination of Consequences of Natural Disasters) sent in squad of rescue divers to search for the missing workers. At least 142 of the 151 were safely brought to the surface but 9 miners are still missing, presumed dead. Meanwhile Alrosa made a net profit of 22.7 billion rubles, equating to $376.37 million in the first quarter of 2017 and produced some 3.19 million carats of diamonds in the previous year.

The Mir open pit diamond mine is situated in Sakha Republic, Yakutia, Siberia some 4,200 kilometres east of Moscow. It's an area that exhibits some of the harshest weather conditions in the world, with Winters that  can extend to seven months, and flaunt temperatures that often drop as low as -40 degrees Celsius. There are harsh conditions in mining in general. Lives are lost, for the sake of gold and diamonds. People are killed for diamonds. Conflict diamonds fund conflict in war-torn areas.  The illicit diamond trade promotes poverty because more than a million diamond diggers in Africa earn less than a dollar a day. Besides diamond mining causes environmental devastation. 

The blue rock is Kimberlite,  a word that originated from the name Kimberley, 
as in the Kimberley Diamond mine in South Africa.  
The green acidic water is the same as that found in the Big Hole Kimberley.

Mining Accidents

The last major mining accident in 2016 cause by methane explosions that ripped through Severnaya coal mine in Russia resulted in the death of 36 people miners, and 6 years earlier a similar explosion claimed the lives of 91 miners. recently four workers were trapped and have died  in the Tau Lekoa gold mine in Orkney, north-west South Africa, as the result of a seismic activity. In the Chilean Mine Rescue, thirty-three men, were trapped in a copper/gold mine 700 meters underground, some 5 kilometers from the mine's entrance and was fortunately rescued 69 days later. Last year 40 zama zamas died in an explosion in a decommissioned Harmony Gold mine ("zama grave yard") in Welkom in the Free State. But the biggest methane threat is in Yamal Peninsula Russia where sinkholes and craters are regularly forming due to methane eruptions as permafrost melts.

Blood Diamonds

Be that as it may, Diamonds are shiny, yet soaked with the invisible blood and the misery of the poor, purely so that the rich can bask in their glory from the proceeds of their diamond, platinum and gold mines. So, seriously, why would you want to invest in  diamond earrings, diamond studded watches, diamond rings and diamond broaches anyway?

12 Reasons Why You Should Never Buy Diamonds

12 Reasons Why You Should Never Buy Diamonds

The Truth About Diamonds. 

This blog is about Genuine Natural Diamonds, and about investing in real  diamonds as apposed to imitation "diamonds" like Cubic Zirconia, Moissanite, Synthetic  Diamonds, Lab diamonds and other worthless man-made make-believe "gems". If truth be told, Diamonds also have no real value, neither do they have any resale nor any investment value. A diamond is just a piece of rock like any other, and even though it has slightly different properties like harness and denseness, it is still but a stone. Having said that, it's only through the constant hype generated by the diamond trade  that these bits of rock are given assumed values and "unwarranted" prestige. 

In a nutshell we've all been psychologically and subliminally conditioned to want a diamond or to hanker after diamonds. That's especially true for our wives, daughters and or girlfriends and other women folk in general. Intrinsically it is their collective "wants" that's driving the diamond trade because the majority of them have been mesmerized and mentally hypnotized by slogans like 'Diamonds are a girls best friend' and 'Diamonds are Forever'. Not to mention being transfixed by the glittering diamond engagement rings, eternity rings, halo rings, solitaire diamond rings, broaches and earrings, etc, on displays in so  many jewelry stores.

Some seventy years ago, diamond monopoly giant De Beers Diamond Cartel commissioned an advertising agency to come up with such slogans, with the objective to create a demand for diamonds that's invariably just useless chunks of coal. Ostensibly a Diamond is nothing more than a meager lump of coal that performed well under pressure. Be that as it may, Be Beers advertising campaign promoted the idea of making a diamond ring the token of an engagement proposal. This idea further presented diamonds as rare and valuable, and the quintessential sign of high esteem. But diamonds are really not really rear, they are found virtually throughout the world wherever there are Kimberlite pipes - the diamond-bearing rock remnants of extinct volcanoes. 

It is estimated that the measurable diamond reserves contained in ten of the world's largest diamond mines equate to more than one billion carats of recoverable diamonds. By implication, that amounts to a one carat diamond for every seventh  person globally. How common is that?  Anyway, five of these ten diamond mines are situated in Russia and two situated in Botswana. The Jwaneng diamond mine in southern Botswana is considered the richest diamond mine in the world. The current global diamond yield is about 133 million carats annually, though Botswana and Russia account for half of this diamond production.  

According to a recent survey by the Institute of Geology and Mineralogy at the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, the Popogai Impact Crater contains 'trillions of carats of diamonds' and if Russia should decide mine this crater, the reserves would be sufficient to meet the entire planet’s demand for industrial-grade diamonds for the next three thousand years. That's roughly 285 carats of diamond for every single human being currently on the planet today.

Diamonds are Priced Well Above Their Value

This gives you some idea how common diamonds really are. De Beers has been mining and marketing rough diamonds since 1888 and is currently the world's leading diamond company, unrivaled in both expertise and exploration. Over the years De Beers Diamond Cartel systematically kept diamond prices at a level to outwit their competition. Their global  diamond monopoly was established by buying up each and every diamond not already under their control, stockpiling  them and restricting  the diamond supply to global markets so that they could keep prices steadily high. The only "value add" De Beers brought to the table was to mine, cut and polish these rough stones. Then add-on huge profit margins. 

So in essence when you buy diamonds, you are in fact paying De Beers for mining, processing, cutting and polishing and stockpiling theses "gems". This includes the cost of dynamite and other explosives, earth moving equipment, miners, pneumatic drills and rock crushing equipment, trucks and other large machinery. Purportedly diamond values are marked-up through creating fictitious market perceptions by carefully restricting supply thereby creating a demand.

After individual  manufacturing jewelers set these "scarce" diamonds into ring, earrings or some other jewelry items, you are additionally paying the price tag they expect for their craftsmanship. And when the final  jewelry products are displayed in jewelry stores, you are additionally paying for their rental space, their advertising, their staff's salaries, the velvet-lined boxes and "valuation certificates" that doesn't display actual value but rather insurance replacement value.  Mind you, when you do claim, they insist on replacing the lost/stolen item rather than issue a pay-out because they can get it much cheaper from their suppliers, beside you also liable for a hefty excess payment. Was it even worth it. Diamonds are no longer a status symbol we've entered the era of synthetic diamonds and cheap rhinestones and reflective plastics that exudes a diamante crystal effect. 

So in your right mind, do you really think that all the attention given to a splinter of rock by so many people, each adding on their middle man fee, on top of it, besides lying to you about what a "magnificent stone" it is.  Having read this, you must admit that as a society we got deceive, tricked, duped, hoodwinked, fooled for a entire century into investing in sparkling pieces of coal but it’s time to end this bullshit. Diamonds are bullshit hence you all need to reject the role diamonds play in marriage proposals. Rather take your hard earned money destined for Be Beers and invest it in stock, bonds, property or fix deposits. Earn yourself dividends rather than loose 50 percent of the value of your money when you walk out of the Jewelry store with an engagement ring.  All I can say is "Don't allow yourself to get suckered by the diamond industry" after having read this.

Diamond scarcity is a bullshit dogma created by the diamond supply companies. Diamonds are fairly common. Source:https://t.co/f4QICH5v7w

— 👹 (@HennessyDad) July 12, 2017

RULES OF ENGAGEMENT

RULES OF ENGAGEMENT WHEN BUYING AN ENGAGEMENT RING

As we all know, Diamonds are a girls best friend hence it is customary for men to buy their girlfriends, sisters and mothers expensive diamond jewelry. However many women tend to or even prefer to buy their own jewelry because of their personal preferences. But when it comes to buying an engagement ring, it's definitely the man's responsibility to buy the ring and above all, get it right.

Jewelry Preference

For any man, shopping for an engagement ring on his own can be a very rewarding experience or it could turn out to be a nightmare if he should get it wrong. You could simply walk into a jewelry store and buy your girlfriend the first ring you like or you could have a ring custom made especially for her. Either way, you need to know the style of jewelry your girlfriend likes and any other jewelry preferences she may have. Should you buy the first ring you like, she may not like it and if you have a ring made to your liking she may not like it either. To circumvent this dilemma, it  requires you to at least know 10 things before you even consider popping the question. 

Does she like dainty jewelry or elaborate jewelry or does the like antique jewelry as opposed to  ultra modern jewelry? Does she prefer  white gold to yellow gold or rose gold is she a platinum girl? Does she prefer  a solitaire ring setting to a halo ring setting or a tension set stone in preference to a tube set ring. Is she into round diamonds or square princess cut or eye shaped marquise cut diamonds or some other shape of stone. Is she into white diamonds or blue diamonds or pink diamonds or any other colour stone. Does she prefer a single stone or a stone  set with accent stones.  Will the size of her complement a 1 carat diamond or are they very dainty so that it would  look oversized on her finger. Perhaps a half carat diamond ring would suit her ring finger better. These are just some of the things you need to know that will make your engagement memorable.


Before you even consider the 4 Cs (cut, color, clarity and carat), at least know what shape stone she loves. Bearing  in mind, shape refers to the actual geometry of the stone, whereas  cut, relates to the angles and the multitude of facets in the stone. View the diamond in natural light shade and not under the bright halogen lights of the display cabinets nor under the flourescent or tungsten lights in the show room. Halogen lights give off blue light and gives the diamond a very slight  blueish tinge whereas tungsten gives it a very slight reddish reflection and florescent light gives it a very slight greenish tinge. Non of these artificial lights gives a true reflection of the diamond. That being said, the whiter a diamond the more it costs. So if your lady is into white diamonds get the whitest reflection you can afford. Before buying a diamond engagement ring know how much you intend to spend but do get the best ring you can without sticking yourself into major debt. And don't be coersed by the counter assistant into buying a ring you didn't intend to buy in the first place.  Also check the what the  store's return policy is because you may want to exchange the stone or the entire ring  if it's not the one she really want.


Choosing a ring with the traditional in a four-prong setting does look nice on a diamond shy of a carat but anything above 1 carat aught to have a six-prong setting because there is less chance of the diamond getting dislodged and loosing it. Yellow gold, white gold, rose gold  or even green gold is just  a few of the metals available for a ring. But the ideal choice ring for a diamond of 1 carat should be platinum because  it's extremely hard and durable. Not only will it compliment the diamond in hardness and durability but it also makes the perfect  hypoallergenic choice should your bride to be have a  sensitive skin.

If you buying custom designed ring, bear in mind  a ring can take a good six weeks to eight before delivery arrive and if you wish to engrave the inside of the ring, don't forget to request the inscription when you place your order. Before taking delivery of the ring ensure you get the specs in writing. Essentially diamonds one carat or larger should be accompanied by a diamond-grading certificate issued by an independent gemological association of note. It also a good idea to "fingerprint" your ring on the bill of sale. The information should include the stone's 4 Cs, shape, dimensions, and any heat or colour enhancements. 

UNIQUENESS OF DIAMONDS

UNIQUE DIAMONDS

As we all know, people are globally diverse, each born with a unique character, specific idiosyncrasies, a biochemical individuality, each with distinguishable retinas and fingerprints; and so much more.  In a nutshell no two people are alike, not even identical twins with their inherent telepathic language. To take this analogy further, there is absolutely nothing in nature that is ever identical in every respect, not even two snow flakes fluttering down from the sky at the exact moment are remotely identical, even though they appear very much alike. That being said, the same principal applies to Diamonds, because no two Diamonds are alike. 

On a stone-by-stone basis, each and every diamond has a different shape, a different carat, a different fluorescence, a different colour, a different sparkle, a different clarity and will, more than likely end up in a differently cut, that  can range from marquise, to round, to oval, to pear, to emerald, to princess, etc. Not even two round diamonds (RBC) of the same carat and identically cut, are exact replicas of one another because, grinding stones wear off as the diamond is shaped, tolerance of grinding equipment vary over time that affects the outcome. The final product even depends on the mood of the stone cutter at the time of polishing. This very loudly shouts that much like people, "diamonds are not born equal" but are rather unique, unique, unique in every respect. The inclusions inside the diamond are even unique.

Fake "tension set" diamonds

Of all the precious and semi precious stones, diamond are the best known and undoubtedly the  most marketed gemstone globally. Diamonds are extremely light and really small, yet have the greatest value amongst the objects of human property. Hence millions of people invest their hard earned cash in diamonds because it's worth it.  Fake diamonds are not only an  insult to real diamonds, but they are an insult to your loved ones who deserve real diamonds rather than fake, imitation, man made diamonds that practically sell for around 70 % of the real thing with claims hat that shine brighter than diamonds.  So don't be mesmerized by their sparkle, their brilliance and  their clarity because they only shine under the display cabinet lights and there is absolutely nothing unique about man made diamonds, manufactured in a lab under artificial conditions.

Moissanite  is a naturally occurring mineral found in limited quantities in the earth.  Initially it was discovered in a crater, created by a meteorite that fell to Earth. In some sense Moissanite could possibly be ill formed impact diamonds. Be that as it may, Moissanite  is often pasted off as diamond though it only measures 9.5 on the Mohr scale. Fake diamonds are commonly known as diamond simulants, man made diamonds, lab diamonds, simulated diamonds, faux diamonds, and diamond imitations. Popular diamond substitutes are made from  Cubic zirconia, Moissanite, Spinel, Synthetic Rutile,  Synthetic Garnet, common glass.

Fake diamonds have a totally different chemical composition than that of real diamonds and are commonly manufactured from Cubic zirconia. Cubic zirconia is a synthetic substance made from zirconium dioxide powder and is probably the most popular diamond substitute, though not the only. The resultant stones are hard, and measure about 8.0 on the Mohr scale. Cubic zirconia is hard yet not as hard nor as durable as real diamond, that measures 10 on the Mohs scale. 

Spinel is a natural mineral that occurs in black, brown, red, green, blue and white. White spinels are in fact are colorless, hence passed off as diamond -fake diamonds, because it only measures 7 on the Mohs scale. Rutile and Garnet are also  natural minerals that occurs in brown, red, however synthetic Rutile and synthetic garnet can be created colorless, which are also past off as diamond -fake diamond though they measure 7.0 on the Mohr scale. Even cheap common glass is sometimes passed off as diamonds though they don't reflect anywhere close to that of diamond.

This is The cubic crystalline form of zirconium dioxide (ZrO2) synthesized into a
hard material called Cubic Zirconia (CZ) , that is optically flawless and usually
colorless - aka fake diamond.

Regardless of the  fake materials used to make diamonds, they all scratch or chip and and substantially fragile compared to diamond. In a nut shell, if doesn't measure 10 on the Mohr scale it's fake. Diamonds are durable, more durable than any thing else that glitters, sparkles and shine.

WHY ARE DIAMONDS SO EXPENSIVE?

Why are diamonds so expensive?

This is a multi-part question which can be addressed by two answers, the first being "No they're not", the the second being "Yes they are".  This paradox has stymies most people interested in investing in diamond or diamond jewelry for a very long time. So allow me to shed some light on the paradox. For the sole purpose of my answer, Diamonds essentially comes in two grades, the first being Gem Quality / Jewelry Grade Diamonds, the second being Industrial grade diamonds. Since not all diamonds mined, are not sufficiently beautiful nor precious enough to be used for jewelry, it can quite comfortably be said that as little as 30 percent of all diamonds mined are suitable enough for Jewelry, whereas 70 percent of all mined diamonds known as bort or boart and are used for industrial applications. 

In a nutshell, Industrial grade diamonds  look ghastly in their raw form, because  they have no luster, internally contain excessive un-crystallized carbon dots and flaws, and are normally discoloured and small. Since Diamond is the hardest substance on earth with the highest thermal conductivity characteristics of any type of material at room temperature, it is ideally suited for an incalculable amount of industrial applications. Besides diamonds also have chemical, optical, and electrical properties ideally suited for manufacturing hard-wearing and corrosion-resistant coatings,  lenses for laser radiation equipment. Industrial diamonds are predominantly used for abrasives, drilling, cutting, grinding and polishing, among which is polishing silicon wafers and computer disk drives.

While as much as 70 percent of all diamonds mined  turns out to be industrial grade diamonds, it only represents a mere 3% of the all diamonds used by industry and the remaining 97% is full filled by synthetic diamonds.  Synthetic diamond is a material chemically identical to natural diamond, manufactured in large quantities, tailored to specific industrial applications. Major consumers of industrial diamonds are computer chip manufacturers, mining and oil exploration services drilling for mineral and natural gas. And of course for manufacturing diamond saws and drills and other tools used in stone cutting and polishing of diamonds. Camparitively speaking, mined industrial diamonds are cheap compared to Gem quality diamonds and range in price  from as little as $0.30 per carat for bort-size diamonds to about $10 per carat for mackle diamonds size stones, whereas larger stones do sell for up to $200 per carat. 

On the other hand, Gem quality diamonds are a completely different kettle of fish.  Several factors can influence the price of a diamond on a stone-by-stone basis. For example, a quarter carat white  diamond can cost as little as $275 to as much as $1750. Whereas a quarter carat blue diamond can cost as little as $475 to as much as $2500 with yellow and orange diamond prices ranging somewhere between the cost of white and blue diamonds. Moving on, a one carat white diamond can range from $4400 to $7700 whereas a one carrat blue diamond can range from $6800 to R11500. Again diamond prices are not cast in stone and are forever fluctuaing and are always influential by the four C's hence diamonds are expensive.

Much of cost of these expensive diamonds are value-adds provided by man who expects a certain level of remuneration for a certain amount of work done to the diamonds like cutting, polish and grading or  for a certain amount of time or money spent on enhancing the product in fancy velvet packaging and display cases. 

Then there are Lab-grown white diamonds, that are priced and sold at some 15-40 percent less than mined diamonds, all carrying  the expectancy of the value-add previously mentioned. Globally millions of carats of white diamonds are mined  annually, apposed to a thousands of carats of white lab diamonds grown that are sell for 60 percent to 80 percent of natural diamonds. Lab diamonds are unnatural diamonds that are grown en-mass in a laboratory that aught to cost a lot less because of its artificial nature. 

Restated lab diamonds diamonds should be considered as faux diamonds, fake diamonds, synthetic diamonds, concocted diamonds, bogus diamonds, inexact diamonds, deceptive diamonds, dishonest diamonds, fraudulent diamonds and should be avoided like the clap. It is not worthwhile investing in any sort of diamond other than those naturally mined, untreated diamonds even though it is unaccompanied by a certificate. On the other hand certificates are is just a way of extracting more money from prospective buyers for some service that is only valued by those running the diamond industry. Personally, I eschew lab diamonds and prefer to invest in jewelry made from natural loose diamonds, if  purely for their attractive firery sparkle, smart cuts  and true value.

CRATER DIAMONDS

CRATER DIAMONDS

Diamonds are found in several countries throughout the world though almost 65% of the entire World's diamond are mined on the African Continent in mines scattered throughout South Africa, Botswana, Namibia, Angola  and the Democratic Republic of Congo.  The world leading diamond giant De Beers situated in Kimberley controlled almost 90%  of the diamond market share, and manipulated diamond price up to the late 1980s prices. But during the past 25 years De Beers lost control of the diamond industry, for the first time in a hundred years, resulting in supply and demand unaffected by their monopoly. Russia and Canada, are also two of the leading diamond-producing countries, closely followed by Australia.  

Diamond, Jasper, Quartz and Mica prospected in an open mine.

Be that as it may, we find that the world's leading consumer of diamonds has virtually no production. Millions of carats of diamonds are annually consumed by the American public  in the United States, either in the form of beautiful jewelry or as loose stones for jewelry production.  However, the only active diamond mine in the US, is the Crater of Diamonds Mine near Murfreesboro, Pike County, Arkansas.

Day visitors at the Crater of Diamonds State Park

This North American 3.7 km² public park attracts thousands  of visitors both locals and foreign tourists annually, in their quest to find diamond. Their primary purpose may be to experience prospecting first hand, though they have hope in finding  a valuable stone buried somewhere in the vast volcanic crater. Diligence and knowing how to dry sift for diamonds can lead to very rewarding experience. Most people do find grey rocks and several other brown and yellow, minerals like garnet, jasper, agate, amethyst, and quartz. Mica a mineral also commonly found in volcanic soil and is found in abundance which many people mistake for diamond. If you find a diamond, it is yours to keep, no questions asked. 

Young couple prospecting for diamonds

The  reality TV  program "Suddenly Rich" showcased a young couple who were down on their luck with only sufficient funds to celebrate their anniversary as a one day picnic at the Murfreesboro State Park. Within minutes of their arrival, whiles  the boyfriend went to hire a sieve to sift through the dirt, the young lady started  digging with her  hired shovel.  The first dig uncovered a shiny stone which she thought it was a shiny piece of quartz, only to be surprised later when an official at the Diamond Recovery Centre at the State Park examined it and told her it was in fact a diamond and offered her $30 000 on the spot for it. She was elated but reluctantly declined his offer even though the pair of them were virtually pennyless. Weeks later after having her newly discovered rough diamond evaluated by a gemologist of note, the diamond turned out to be one and half carats in weight, colour D (ice white) with clarity somewhere between vs and vvs, worth over $300 000. 

A 1.5 carat ice white diamond worth more than $300.00

Another such open mine is the massive Popigai crater situated in Taymyr Peninsula of northern Siberia, Russia , which is at least 25 times larger than the Crater of Diamonds State Park in Murfreesboro, Arkansas.  It is believed that these diamond bearing craters were formed when asteroids  measuring between 2 to 8 kilometers in diameter slammed  in to the earth at  hypervelocity speeds of 20 km per second. The intense flash of heat and pressure it produce is the exact conditions needed for diamonds to form.  In the case of Popigai it is believed that flakes of graphite in the Archean graphite-garnet gneiss that converted into tiny diamond under 2.0 millimeters in size, are more suited for producing diamond abrasives that jewelry. Since it is also believed there was insufficient time for large, single-crystal stones of great clarity and purity to develop, it is  unlikely that the Popigai Crater will become the site for a gem-diamond mining operation. 

But that is just speculation by the west because there are lots of news reports of major diamond deposit containing trillions of carats of gemstone-quality diamonds that Russia has kept secret. If the Russian government should prospect the crater and bring those diamonds to market, the value of diamonds and the diamond will fall like ninepins due the huge diamond surplus. The largest consumer of diamonds in the world will instantly loose the investment value in diamonds and mind you, so will the the rest of the world.

State Park official showing a family the diamond prospecting ropes.