Diamond Mining

Another reason why diamonds are so rare and valuable is due to the mining process. 

India was the first and only major diamond sources until the 18^th century. 

Nowadays diamonds are mined in a variety of remote and challenging locations: 

South Africa; Siberia; Australia; Canada; amongst other locations. 

Mining is highly costly; it involves millions of money to identify a possible diamond deposit. Even superior expenses are incurred for a mine to be built and operated. 

The rarity of diamonds, the tremendous efforts to identify their deposits, and the high costs invested in mining, is what makes them so desirable.

Diamonds form under tremendous temperature and pressure. Then they are brought to the earth’s surface in cataclysmic eruptions at rare times throughout the earth’s long history. 

The geologic process that brings diamonds to the surface is so violent and explosive that it’s a miracle that diamonds survive it. In fact, large crystals rarely survive intact. 

Diamonds owe their incredible durability and beauty to their formation process. Formation under just the right temp and pressure conditions results in the crystal structure that causes diamond’s supreme hardness and desirable optical properties. If there’s a slight variation in temp or pressure, or if the diamonds take too long to reach the surface the result is graphite not diamond. (as both are made of up of only carbon) 

There are many places around the planet that might contain diamond deposits, but not all of them do. And not every diamond deposit is valuable enough to develop into a profitable diamond mine. Mining companies must consider several factors when they decide whether or not to develop a mine at a given site. 

They have to consider how many tons of diamond it might contain, the size of the diamonds, the quality and value. They also have to consider the location and accessibility of the diamond deposit as well as the host country’s political stability and legal requirements, like taxes and environment legislation. 

An example is Australia’s Argyle mine, the majority of the diamonds mined are not good for commercial purposes but it produces rare and valuable pink diamonds which make up the process viable. On the other hand Africa has the world’s most diverse diamond sources. 

Even the smallest diamond must be located and mined, which represents an enormous investment in time and money. As a result, the costs of finding and mining diamonds are significant factors affecting overall diamond value.