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Post by snowmom on Oct 28, 2015 5:17:17 GMT -5
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Fossilman
Cave Dweller
Member since January 2009
Posts: 20,685
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Post by Fossilman on Oct 28, 2015 9:07:25 GMT -5
I will have to do some studying on this.....Haven't heard of anything about this subject yet.... But if they are here in Oregon,I bet my friend could tell me about them... Thanks D
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cdfcal
having dreams about rocks
Member since June 2011
Posts: 59
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Post by cdfcal on Oct 28, 2015 10:29:48 GMT -5
There are diamonds in the Smith River drainage on the Oregon/California border. The gold miners found some when the area was mined, although they were far and few between.... Some were of good quality I understand. There is a diamond and Peridotite Creeks in the area. I have been up there several times looking around, but I think the chances of finding a diamond are very, very remote. The area is really rough, wild and scenic. It is a very mineralized area, with lots of nickel and some copper. There is a old copper mine in the area that operated during the civil war. The ore was so rich they hauled it in wagons over rough roads to Crescent City, Then by coastal barges to San Francisco. Then ships took the ore to Europe to be smeltered. Hard to believe it could have been profitable. I guess wars were good for some parts of the economy even back then....There are also diamonds other places in California, Tulare County for one.
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gemfeller
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Posts: 3,800
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Post by gemfeller on Oct 28, 2015 16:16:54 GMT -5
I have seldom seen more misinformation and outright wing-nuttery in one place as in this examiner.com story. There well may be Kimberlites and some low-grade diamonds in the area described. But by the author's own admission none found so are gem-grade and large enough for jewelry use.
Here are some random facts to support my position: diamonds, including some large and valuable gems, have been found in every U.S. state. Apart from the well-known Crater of Diamonds in Arkansas and a couple of newer locations in Colorado where diamonds are found in the original diatreme rocks, most are alluvial and their original source is unknown. The highest incidence of alluvial gem-grade diamond discoveries has been in he Great Lakes region of the U.S. and it's believed they were transported there by glaciers from points north. The discovery of in-place gem-grade diamonds in Canada some years back supports this theory.
I had to LOL at the author's comments about Siberian diamonds. The original Siberian diamond pipes were found as the result of intensive Soviet prospecting efforts in the early 1950s to supply domestic diamonds for industrial production needs. They found many Kimerlite pipes that continue to produce very high-grade gem diamonds. Irony of ironies, when it came to marketing Soviet gem-grade diamonds in the West to generate needed foreign exchange income, the Communists turned to DeBeers, the monopolistic diamond syndicate. DeBeers continued marketing Russian gem diamonds until recent years when Russian companies like Alrosa came to the forefront.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ALROSA
As to cdfcal's post, there are numerous locations in California where Kimberlites and (very scarce and small) diamonds have been found. In the 1970s an interesting little booklet, "Hunting Diamonds in California" by Mary Hill was published. She validated such discoveries in the following counties: Amador, Butte, El Dorado, Placer, Plumas, Nevada, Stanislaus, Tulare and Tuolumne. The majority were found as the result of placer gold mining or in river gravels. Diamonds have also been found on several California beaches.
The most recent serious American diamond prospecting has been in Colorado near the northern border with Wyoming. I know of at least two privately-held diamond mines in that area. "Indicator" minerals for Kimberlites like pyrope garnets have also been found in that area on the Wyoming side. There are also indications of Kimberlites and other "indicator" minerals like olivine in southern Utah, Arizona and New Mexico. I may have missed some areas but my overall point is that there are many areas in the U.S. that have diamond potential but very few so far have produced stones that are of jewelry size and grade.
But I don't think I have to tell anyone here to pick up any interesting rocks they run across. A few years ago a young woman from Billings, MT was out exercise-walking with friends. She spied an interesting pebble in the road gravel and picked it up, joking with her friends that she'd discovered a big diamond. To her later surprise, she had. After authentication it sold for a tidy sum and its value was enhanced because it was a true American diamond.
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Post by snowmom on Oct 29, 2015 15:06:10 GMT -5
good to get input gemfeller, when you read stuff on the internet you never know. I suppose the source should have given me a clue... I have a friend whose brother is a geologist employed by a huge mining co. They they think they have possible diamond finds in Ontario... no doubt it will hit the news after all the land has been purchased and agreements signed.
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gemfeller
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Posts: 3,800
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Post by gemfeller on Oct 29, 2015 17:41:59 GMT -5
Canada has become the world's third-largest mining/cutting industry based on the discovery of several diamond pipes in the far North several years ago. I wouldn't be at all surprised that new discoveries will follow, based on the prospecting methods that revealed the other locations. After years of frustrating searching with plentiful indications that primary deposits existed, prospectors finally found the pipes hiding under lakes. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canadian_diamondsCanada has benefited greatly from the so-called "conflict diamond" controversy with a marketing pitch that promises all stones sold are mined and cut in Canada. I have personal doubts about how they can be so sure. Last time I checked there was no positive way to determine diamond origin except in a few unique cases. I doubt smugglers would be much troubled with bringing questionable diamond rough into a country with the longest coastline in the world and the smallest coast guard. Laser inscriptions are easily faked. But so far I don't know of any specific violations. Diamond mining and marketing has undergone huge changes in the past few decades. Not many people realize that Australia has been the world's largest producer by volume since the 1980's, especially of extremely valuable pink and red "fancies." But the quality of white Australian diamonds is much lower than other sources so that diminishes the industry's comparative financial importance. DeBeers is no longer the dominant power in diamond marketing since it's lost control of so many large-producing mines although it's still a mighty big player.
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quartz
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breakin' rocks in the hot sun
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Post by quartz on Oct 29, 2015 23:44:43 GMT -5
My wife and I both thought of the "story" as smelling like an effort to stir up excitement, and possible investors. Bernie Madoff was good at that.
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gemfeller
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Post by gemfeller on Oct 30, 2015 11:05:02 GMT -5
Quartz, it does read like a somewhat unprofessional stock prospectus doesn't it? I guess I could be red-faced if the article turns out to be for real but the entire piece is so riddled with hype, overstatement and misinformation I think I'm on pretty solid ground when I debunk it.
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