26 Nov 2013

The word ‘diamond’ derives from Greek adamao, meaning ‘I tame’ or ‘I subdue’ or the related word adamas, which means ‘hardest steel’ or ‘hardest substance’.

Everyone knows diamonds are hard and beautiful, but did you know a diamond could be the oldest material you might own? While the rock in which diamonds are found may be 50 to 1 600 million years old, the diamonds themselves are approximately 3.3 billion years old.

This discrepancy is because the volcanic magma that solidifies into rock where diamonds are found did not create them, but only transported the diamonds from the earth’s mantle to the surface. Diamonds also may be formed under high pressures and temperatures at the site of meteorite impacts.

The diamonds formed during an impact may be relatively ‘young’, but some meteorites contain stardust, debris from the death of a star, which may include diamond crystals. One such meteorite is known to contain tiny diamonds over five billion years old. These diamonds are older than our solar system! Source: Anne Marie Helmenstine Ph.D-Author and Scientific Consultant.

A diamond is a mineral formed of carbon about 3.3 billion years ago, about 150-190 kilometres below the earth surface, a pressure of 60 000kg/cm and temperature ranging from 900-1400 degrees Celsius.

Carbon present in the mantle was subjected to these conditions and crystallised to form a diamond. If the pressure is not enough or the temperature is outside the range graphite will be formed. Diamond and graphite are all made of carbon.

The melted rock ore or magma forced its way through the earth’s crust and burst through to the surface in volcanic eruptions and when it eventually cooled in the pipes, the diamonds became entrapped in the rock-kimberlite, also known as blue ground and that is where open pit mining takes place. ENDS