[Sca-cooks] OT OOP Diamonds was tedious process

[Georgia Foster]

THLord Stefan li Rous asked:



>What do concentrations of chromium diopside and pyrope garnets have  to do with probability of an area containing diamonds? Are these  simply a common side-effect of the processes that also create diamonds?



Everywhere that diamonds are found, chromium diopside and pyrope garnet are also found.  That doesn't mean that the presence of diopside and garnet mean there are also diamonds, only that the three are frequently found in the same location.  Locating the heaviest concentration of the red and green rocks means it is more likely that the pretty clear ones are near by.  

 

>Were you using "ant-hill" sized samples or were you specifically  choosing samples from ant-hills?



The ants, dear little workers that they are, are capable of much . but there is a limit to the weight such a small body can pack.  The bigger rocks must be worked around but the rocks in the ant hills that are small enough to move, they pitch over the edge of the hole.  Wind winnows out the  fines at the surface.  The ant hill is therefore a collection of whatever smallish pebbles that comprise the surface layer of the ground and a good sample of what sort of material is in the area.  The sample, therefore, was a selection of rocks found in the ant hills.



>
Do we know what areas diamonds were found in, in period? Since  faceting of jewels was a late period invention, did diamonds even  rank high on the scale of precious gems in period?

 

As to where Diamonds were found in period, my research was concentrated on an eight 64 mile square of Otherhill Artemisia . mundanely southwest Wyoming.  The grant was to search an area of known to have kimberlite.  Kimberlite is the matrix material that produces diamonds.  The stones found in the research project are all about the same size as one might find in ant hills.  They are as nature sends them.  They are rather pretty tied in with silver wire.

 

Cheers

 

Malkin

Otherhill

Artemisia
Jo (Georgia L.) Foster

Never knock on Death's door. Ring the doorbell and run ... he hates that.