Diamond Extraction Methods

Diamond is a highly valuable stone that is as rare as it is highly difficult to extract. Companies however of course do manage to mine diamonds and they achieve this by using diamond exploration and diamond discovery services to test and evaluate specific sites and then help with the mining.

The most prominent occurrence of diamonds is in 'kimberlite pipes' that are found in the upper sections of the Earth's crust. Kimberlite is a rock that is formed much like diamond – by being subjected to the intense pressures and temperatures that occur deep beneath the Earth's surface over thousands of years. The 'pipes' are then formed as a result of volcanic eruption, where magma from deep below the surface – 90 miles down and more – erupts to the surface bringing with it the diamond which is left embedded in the rock. The kimberlite pipes are the shape of carrots or of tears – getting wider at the end, and the rock itself appears a 'burned' looking black/gray color.

These kimberlite pipes provide the diamond deposit, and they occur rarely around various parts of the world – mainly on tectonically stable centers of continents – areas of land known as 'shields'. These kimberlite pipes have also been shown to occur mostly near the 'marginal' parts of the crust of the Earth where bending is occurring. This can be used by diamond exploration companies to indicate the severe stress caused by the upwelling of magma. Another sign of kimberlite pipes is the presence of xenoliths and sedimentary rock. This is caused due to the breaching of the upper part of a platform.

Once the kimberlite pipes have been identified and have been shown to be likely rich resources, they will be subjected to 'open pit mining'. Here parts of the kimberlite pipe is loosened and lifted from the ground for further sorting. The shape of kimberlite pipes makes this possible.

To achieve this the surface material around the kimberlite pipe will be removed by a machine and this will allow miners to enter the mouth of the kimberlite pipe. Miners will then move deeper inside the pipe excavating kimberlite and diamond as they go. What makes this particularly suitable is the fact the the kimberlite pipe gets wider as the mining progresses deeper – which is necessary for mining anyway.

This is however a highly length and laborious task that costs huge amounts of money – and this is partly what makes diamonds as valuable as they are. After diamond discovery it can take over ten years for the mining to even begin in earnest and the process has in the past cost as much as half a billion dollars. In the open mining method of extracting diamonds, over 1,000 pounds of ore and rock will be removed and sorted through for every carat of diamond. This is why it is so important for the companies handling the mining to be certain that the mine is a lucrative source of diamonds before they begin the mining process and this is one reason why diamond exploration companies are so useful.

Diamond exploration companies can identify kimberlite pipes and help with diamond prospecting to aid companies in making the right decisions regarding diamond mining.