In the cases of the kimberlite or lamproite pipes, open-pit mining is most commonly used. This involves a progressive digging at the source of the pipe (Open Pit, No Date). In effect, a giant crater is created that allows for transportation of trucks, people and heavy equipment to the bottom (Open Pit, No Date). A mining operation will dig deeper and deeper into the pit, excavating diamonds and their rock hosts. Sometimes, diamonds and their kimberlite or lamproite hosts have been deposited above and around the pit (known as eluvial deposits), which are much simpler to mine (Learning About, No Date).
Of course, once diamonds are extracted from rocks, a skilled process of sorting ensues. Diamonds are manually sorted by experts who determine issues such as size, quality and color to assess whether the diamonds will be sold as gems or to industrial clients. The diamonds are often routed through the Diamond Trading Company - formerly the Central Selling Organization - which has an almost cartel-like influence on diamond distribution (Diamond Trading Company, No Date)
Works Cited
Diamonds and Diamond Simulants" (No Date). Retrieved Nov. 24, 2006 from the Web site for the University of California at Berkeley at http://socrates.berkeley.edu/~eps2/wisc/Lect6.html.
Diamond Mining" (No Date). Retrieved Nov. 24, 2006 from the Web site for the Environmental Literacy Council at http://www.enviroliteracy.org/article.php/1121.html.
Diamond Trading Company" (No Date). Retrieved Nov. 24, 2006 from the Web Site for De Beers Group at (http://www.debeersgroup.com/debeersweb/About+De+Beers/De+Beers+World+Wide/Diamond+Trading+Company+(Dtc)/.
Learning About Diamonds" (No Date). Retrieved Nov. 24, 2006 from the Web site for Kings Jewelry at http://www.kingsjewelry.com/learning_diamond_mining02.shtml.
Open Pit Surface Mine" (No Date). Retrieved Nov. 24, 2006 from the Web site for Mine Engineer at http://www.mine-engineer.com/mining/open_pit.htm.
World Diamond Mining Production" (2003). Retrieved Nov. 24, 2006 from the Web site for The Diamond Registry at http://www.diamondregistry.com/world.htm.
Sample Source(s) Used
Works Cited
Diamonds and Diamond Simulants" (No Date). Retrieved Nov. 24, 2006 from the Web site for the University of California at Berkeley at http://socrates.berkeley.edu/~eps2/wisc/Lect6.html.
Diamond Mining" (No Date). Retrieved Nov. 24, 2006 from the Web site for the Environmental Literacy Council at http://www.enviroliteracy.org/article.php/1121.html.
Diamond Trading Company" (No Date). Retrieved Nov. 24, 2006 from the Web Site for De Beers Group at (http://www.debeersgroup.com/debeersweb/About+De+Beers/De+Beers+World+Wide/Diamond+Trading+Company+(Dtc)/.
Learning About Diamonds" (No Date). Retrieved Nov. 24, 2006 from the Web site for Kings Jewelry at http://www.kingsjewelry.com/learning_diamond_mining02.shtml.
Related Documents
Study Document
Diamonds Advertising
Diamond Advertising Diamonds may be a girl's best friend, according to a concept popular in the 1950s. Alternatively, diamonds might also be forever, a concept popularized in advertising for several decades. Diamonds are a symbol of love, but they have hardly been the source of much loving interaction between various populations of humans. In fact, diamonds have been at the root of intense and deadly strife in Sierra Leone, most notably,
Study Document
Diamond-Water Paradox the Diamond Water Paradox Is
Diamond-Water Paradox The diamond water paradox is a classic example of the numerous paradoxes that can be seen in everyday life. According to the diamond water paradox, the cost of diamonds is more than the cost of water despite the fact that water is essential for human existence while diamond is more of an optional luxury item. A good application of this paradox is the difference in the wages of essential
Study Document
Hezbollah Financing: Diamond Trade in
"In the case of arms trafficking," they advise, "there are arms dealers eager to sell AK-47s to conflict zones all over the world. There are shipping and air transport services willing and able to transport the weapons to warlords who are destabilizing much of West Africa. The warlords trade diamonds for guns, and the arms brokers and transporters in turn launder the diamonds with brokers in Antwerp and deposit
Study Document
Blood Diamonds the Prologue in
101). Plus, diamond mining hires over a million people, Weeks adds. On page 114 Campbell explains that at about the same time -- ironically -- that he was being pitched by the De Beers people about the "huge economic impact that bad publicity about conflict diamonds could have on sales" planes piloted by Al Queda were crashing into the World Trade Center. And also at the same moment as those
Study Document
De Beer's International Diamond Monopoly
This process, however, should be enriched with additions that would turn it into a fair international scheme and enforced by additional bodies. Reference List Associated Press. 2004. De Beers Pleads Guilty in Price Fixing Case. July 13th edition, http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5431319/ Crossette, B. 2000. Report on Angola Sanctions is Challenged in the UN. The New York Times, March 16th Edition, http://www.globalpolicy.org/security/sanction/angola/report2.htm De Beers corporate website, Accessed March 09, http://www.debeersgroup.com/en/Sales-and-distribution/Best-Practice-Principles/ Global Witness. 1998. A Rough Trade: The
Study Document
Blood Diamonds Greg Campbell: Tracing the Deadly
Blood Diamonds Greg Campbell: Tracing the Deadly Path of the World's Most Precious Stones. New York: Basic Books, 2004. 251 pp., notes, index. Greg Campbell is a freelance journalist and the editor of the Fort Collins Weekly, whose works have previously appeared in Christian Science Monitor, the San Francisco Chronicle, and a number of other magazines and newspapers. Campbell made several visits to a war-torn African country of Sierra Leone to trace