Miners unearth world's biggest diamond

[muriel_volestrangler]

Source: The Guardian

The world's biggest diamond, believed to be twice the size of the Cullinan, has been discovered in the North-West Province of South Africa. The find has electrified the diamond community, but the circumstances of the discovery are shrouded in mystery.

The diamond is expected to attract furious bidding from buyers worldwide and could fetch up to £15m.

A spokesman for the mining house which made yesterday's find, Brett Joli, said the diamond was being rushed to a bank vault in Johannesburg and would be kept there for a couple of days "until we calm down and decide what we are going to do". A security company was being hired to protect the precious stone.
...
He said the first seven people who looked at the stone thought it was industrial grade, but that view has changed and it now appears to be a stone that will be cut into a piece of jewellery.

Read more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/southafrica/story/0,,2157446,00.html

[Turbineguy]

1. I hope nobody

will mind if I neglect to mention this to my wife?

[JCMach1]

2. Cool!

and Rec

[PetrusMonsFormicarum]

3. Diamonds are pretty and useful

but if deBeers and the 3 or 4 other major diamond holders released all of the diamonds they have in storage, we could pick them up as souvenirs in rock shops.

If we wanted to--there is far too much blood spilled over glittering rocks.

[formercia]

4. A Diamond is forever

goes the saying from DeBeers. Even the name is propaganda. DeBeers was the name of the farmers that owned the property where Diamonds were first found in South Africa but sold their property to Cecil Rhodes for a few thousand and never profited from the find.

Diamonds are quite common. Any hand full of glacial till will give up a few diamond grains after processing but the cost won't cover their value. Fine stones go for as little as 50 cents a carat and would be even cheaper if the Diamond Cartel didn't control the market.

There are materials being developed that are even harder than crystalline Carbon. Unfortunately, they aren't as pretty.
I have worked with a type of amorphous Carbon called ultra-hard Fullerite that wears DeBeers industrial diamonds to dust and won't shatter like a conventional diamond when struck.

As long as people keep believing the propaganda that the Cartel spends tens of Millions to promote their pretty rocks, people will keep wasting their money.

People should read about Tulip Mania to see how far human nature will degenerate for something of perceived value.

[MLFerrell]

18. "People should read about Tulip Mania..."

Indeed.

And what you say about industrial materials is spot on. Modern synthetic techniques can make ceramic materials that are nearly as hard as diamond. Ultra-hard Fullerite can be used to make Aggregated Diamond Nanorods, which are even harder.

Diamonds have been superseded by better alternatives for industrial applications.

It's unfathomable that people should pay such ridiculous sums for shiny pebbles.

[formercia]

19. I tried cutting an ultra-hard Fullerite with DeBeers synthetic Diamond

320 grit and the Diamond didn't even scratch the Fullerite. It slowly dulled the surface but I could see no scratches on the surface of the Fullerite at 100x magnification. I did the same test with a natural Sapphire and the surface of the Sapphire looked like a plowed field.

Once the Fullerite comes down in price to where it can be competitive with Diamonds for general applications, natural stones will just be an interesting footnote in History.

The biggest problem is the pressure it takes to compress the carbon nanotubes to make the UHF. Pressures on the order of 20 Giga Pascals minimum are required. As a comparison, RDX explosive can generate peak pressures in the range of 22.5 Giga Pascals but it's a bit hard on the equipment.

[MLFerrell]

23. Since you seem to be well-versed in industrial chemical applications and materials science...

I might ask you if you think that the U.S. Military's Interceptor Body Armor with its boron carbide ceramic inserts is the best available technology to fulfill its purpose.

I know all about Dragon Skin, but from what I can glean, the materials are basically identical, it's only the respective armors' engineering and implementation that differs.

Anyway, in your opinion, are there any superior alternatives to boron carbide? I know about boron nitride, but from what I gather, it's impractical and/or cost-prohibitive for this sort of application.

Oh, and in case you were wondering, I have a personal stake in this... My brother is in Iraq as we speak.

Best wishes, and Yol Bolsun (look it up)!

EDIT: spelling, etc.

[formercia]

27. Carbon nanotube fabric

will probably be the wave of the future combined with other materials.

The biggest problem now is not necessarily stopping the bullet. Dragon skin body armor has been proven to stop 7.62x54 armor piercing rounds, but mitigating the blunt trauma injuries that occur, not from the penetration of the projectile, but the dissipation of the projectile's energy over a small area. Backing the armor with a high-tensile strength cushion made of carbon-nanotube fabric would spread the energy over a much larger area.

There comes a point where all of the armor in the World won't protect you if the transmitted energy exceeds the ability of your body to withstand it. There are many cases where people have been killed by blast pressure but showed no external sign of injury.

[alfredo]

20. "The Botany of Desire" by Michael Pollan does a great job describing it.

I recommend it. It also describes, the Apple, Potatoes, and Marijuana. It could be the plants manipulate us for their own agenda.

[MLFerrell]

22. Well, to be fair, I wouldn't include Cannabis in that group...

After all, it has a tangible non-aesthetic, non-nutritive function, though it fulfills the prior criteria as well.

Though I must say, I'll have to put "The Botany of Desire" on my reading list. I should be able to get to it come December, what with graduate "education" and all... In any case, thanks for the recommendation!

[alfredo]

25. hemp seed is very nutritious. Hemp oil is very low in Polyunsaturated

fatty acids.

Hemp seed is made into flour, protein powder, livestock feed, and is used in some beers. I've had a hemp beer and it was light and rather tasty. I'm not much for lite beers, but this was very good.

[entanglement]

5. The African miner pays the cost in blood and perforated lungs while rich capitalists in the UK

control the industry and reap immense profits. (No doubt, a 'cut' of the plunder is given to the elite of Botswana for their continued co-operation.)

[Virginia Dare]

7. I often wonder why diamonds are so revered by hip hop culture..

do these people not realize or not care that the diamond industry is responsible for a deplorable subjugation of black people?

[Posteritatis]

28. Nope; they're shiny! (nt)

[leftchick]

11. look how they rewarded this miner...

disgusting....

<snip>


There will be interest in who made the find and how they will be rewarded. The black miner who discovered the Excelsior, said to be the second largest uncut diamond ever found, received a horse and saddle, and a sum of money.

[formercia]

12. Just like drugs

The price is controlled by who regulates the supply.

[Triana]

6. I wouldn't give them a nickel for it either - Pffft! (n/t)

[mainer]

8. only worth 15 million pounds?

For all the excitement and security, you'd think it'd be worth more.

[mikita]

10. you're right...

at the Pentagon, this will only buy a toothbrush.

[krispos42]

14. Hey, it will buy almost 60 washers!!!!!

:rofl:

[babydollhead]

9. just saw "blood diamond" last night

diamonds...yuck. how stupid our species.

[ohio2007]

21. "Blood Diamond " That movie hints that a rock the size of this will cause

the price of diamonds to drop if it is pure and is allowed to be cut up into small trinkets. A rock like that might just get tucked away, never to be allowed on to the market, keeping the price stable. jmo

[redqueen]

13. I do not understand people's preoccupation with shiny rocks.

It's flat out stupid.

Diamonds are useful... but as decorations, considering the background, they are disgusting. Might as well wear an "I'm an idiot" tattoo, AFAIC.

[cobalt1999]

26. I have to agree with you.

If civilization collapsed, gold, diamonds etc. would be next to worthless. Now, if someone has a cow or chickens, there would be the value in that. If someone can build a shed, that's a valuable service...give him a chicken, not a rock.

Sometimes I think we can be a silly civilization, fighting over pretty rocks.

[mac56]

15. Shine on, you crazy diamond....

nm

[ohio2007]

16. oh , Is that where I left it.....thanks for finding my diamond. nt

[BeHereNow]

17. I'm sure the global elite are scurrying over this one...

I hope they slip in the trail of blood behind it and break their greedy necks.
BHN

[goforit]

24. Here comes the next Pink Panther movie.