Russia declassifies documents that they've found a new diamond field; enough to supply markets for 3 - Polidicks

[url]http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Global-News/2012/0917/Russia-reveals-shiny-state-secret-It-s-awash-in-diamonds[/url] [quote=Christian Science Monitor (no, this is NOT an oxymoron)]'Trillions of carats' lie below a 35-million-year-old, 62-mile-diameter asteroid crater in eastern Siberia known as Popigai Astroblem. The Russians have known about the site since the 1970s. Russia has just declassified news that will shake world gem markets to their core: the discovery of a vast new diamond field containing "trillions of carats," enough to supply global markets for another 3,000 years. The Soviets discovered the bonanza back in the 1970s beneath a 35-million-year-old, 62-mile diameter asteroid crater in eastern Siberia known as Popigai Astroblem. They decided to keep it secret, and not to exploit it, apparently because the USSR's huge diamond operations at Mirny, in Yakutia, were already producing immense profits in what was then a tightly controlled world market. The Soviets were also producing a range of artificial diamonds for industry, into which they had invested heavily. The veil of secrecy was finally lifted over the weekend, and Moscow permitted scientists from the nearby Novosibirsk Institute of Geology and Mineralogy to talk about it with Russian journalists. According to the official news agency, ITAR-Tass, the diamonds at Popigai are "twice as hard" as the usual gemstones, making them ideal for industrial and scientific uses. The institute's director, Nikolai Pokhilenko, told the agency that news of what's in the new field could be enough to "overturn" global diamond markets. "The resources of super-hard diamonds contained in rocks of the Popigai crypto-explosion structure, are by a factor of ten bigger than the world's all known reserves," Mr. Pokhilenko said. "We are speaking about trillions of carats. By comparison, present-day known reserves in Yakutia are estimated at one billion carats." The type of stones at Popigai are known as "impact diamonds," which theoretically result when something like a meteor plows into a graphite deposit at high velocity. The Russians say most such diamonds found in the past have been "space diamonds" of extraterrestrial origin found in meteor craters. [Editor's note: The original version misstated the type of deposit needed to create impact diamonds.] They claim the Popigai site is unique in the world, thus making Russia the monopoly proprietor of a resource that's likely to become increasingly important in high-precision scientific and industrial processes. "The value of impact diamonds is added by their unusual abrasive features and large grain size," Pokhilenko told Tass. "This expands significantly the scope of their industrial use and makes them more valuable for industrial purposes." Russian scientists say the news is likely to change the shape of global diamond markets, although the main customers for the super-hard gems will probably be big corporations and scientific institutes.[/quote]

Modern day gold rush?? Also, twice as hard, holy shit.

Diamonds are forever.

and suddenly diamonds are worthless.

For those still about to point out the non-existent oxymoron, The Christian Science Monitor isn't a religious publication: just a publication owned by a church. From their about page: [quote=Christian Science Monitor]Is the Monitor a religious publication? No, it’s a real news organization owned by a church – The First Church of Christ, Scientist, in Boston, Mass., USA. Everything in the Monitor is international and US news and features, except for one religious article in the weekly magazine and Daily News Briefing – a version of which has appeared each day since 1908, at the request of the Monitor’s founder, Mary Baker Eddy. In an age of corporate conglomerates dominating the news media, the Monitor’s combination of church ownership, public-service mission, and commitment to covering the world (not to mention the fact that it was founded by a woman shortly after the turn of the 20th century, when US women didn’t yet have the vote!) gives the Monitor a uniquely independent voice in journalism.[/quote]

holy shit

[QUOTE=The mouse;37704202]and suddenly diamonds are worthless.[/QUOTE] There are plenty of diamonds on this planet. It's just suppliers restrict the pricing to it to unnecessary heights. If the price were equal to its real supply worth, almost anyone could buy them for cheap.

[QUOTE=zombojoe;37704201]Diamonds are forever.[/QUOTE] [video=youtube;80A6MtPwj-Q]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=80A6MtPwj-Q[/video] Yes.

[QUOTE=wickedplayer494;37704206]For those still about to point out the non-existent oxymoron, The Christian Science Monitor isn't a religious publication: just a publication owned by a church. From their about page:[/QUOTE] I think people are more concerned about the diamonds, honestly.

[QUOTE=Emperor Scorpious II;37704244]I think people are more concerned about the diamonds, honestly.[/QUOTE] Yeah, this is pretty cool that they've declassified this stuff.

You can already make industrial diamonds pretty easily.

[QUOTE=zombojoe;37704259]You can already make industrial diamonds pretty easily.[/QUOTE] Aren't those artificial, though?

[QUOTE=The mouse;37704202]and suddenly diamonds are worthless.[/QUOTE] Impossible. Technically speaking, they kind of are, but De Beers has a monopoly on the diamond market, and stockpiles them to create artificial inflation and price fixing. They also created the "A Wedding ring should cost a month's income. Though this would be interesting how the monopoly is affected by this discovery. [editline]17th September 2012[/editline] Dammit Emperor Scorpius ninjaing my answer

[QUOTE=Emperor Scorpious II;37704277]Aren't those artificial, though?[/QUOTE] Artificially made but using processes similar to that of nature itself using intense pressure and heat. They're basically the same as natural diamonds except they can be pre-formed and don't need cutting/polishing so much.

diamonds really aren't worth that much we are just made to believe they are

[QUOTE=Ereunity;37704311]Artificially made but using processes similar to that of nature itself using intense pressure and heat. They're basically the same as natural diamonds except they can be pre-formed and don't need cutting/polishing so much.[/QUOTE] They wouldn't be worth as much though.

This'll be just enough for the cars and walls we need for testing!

i give it 100 years before diamond jewellery ceases to exist in it's present state

And the second they start sending huge teams of people to start digging and extracting them, a race of subterranean super arachnids will burst forth and kill us all. Thanks for getting us killed Russia.

My idea to use a ring of significant sentimental value, irregardless of monetary value seems even better now, if/when I get married

[QUOTE=The mouse;37704202]and suddenly diamonds are worthless.[/QUOTE] They are pretty useful for various kinds of tools and other industrial stuff. i heard somewhere that the vast majority of diamonds ever mined are worthless for jewelry but as if sent from the heavens for many different kinds of industry. I wonder though what other fuckery all those diamond maffiosos with their army of child labour in Africa are gonna come up with if their market suddenly plummets.

[QUOTE=The mouse;37704202]and suddenly diamonds are worthless.[/QUOTE] Diamonds are still very important in the industrial world, they'd just lose their social value. [editline].[/editline] Damnit Greenleaf

Maybe there are other hidden resource reserves around the world, waiting to be declassified (Oil for instance).

-snip-

Quite interesting, I do wonder what more resources are classified and buried in other states archives.

Wait, wasn't there a story a few days ago about Russia buying some huge ice-breaking drill thing, or something along the lines of the biggest ice-breaking drill in the world or something? Those crafty buggers :v:

Saturate the market, bring down prices and usher in a new industrial world! As if :(

Be right back. Flying there right now to dig my wife a new diamond ring.

[QUOTE=latin_geek;37704735]This'll be just enough for the cars and walls we need for testing![/QUOTE] For those who don't get it: [IMG]http://u.cubeupload.com/richard9311/llZkC.png[/IMG]

[QUOTE=Emperor Scorpious II;37704277]Aren't those artificial, though?[/QUOTE] It doesn't make much difference really, they are almost identical in physical properties. Diamonds are basically a scam anyways, though.