Russia admits to having 'trillions of carats' worth of diamonds hidden in an asteroid crater. Artificial diamonds are cheaper than real diamonds and also artificial; thus not as nice.
Diamonds cheap as dirt, eh, what fucking planet are you on. It's a big deal because this source of diamonds is outside of DeBeers's control. This is basically Russia telling the syndicate to get it's house in order before it introduces them to a market economy. Actually industrial applications require diamonds that are freer from flaws than natural ones are. In other words artificial diamonds are more flawless and perfect than natural ones. In fact the most skilled diamond appraisers have long not been able to tell natural ones from artificial ones. In summary, your point seems kind of silly and arbitrary to me. Enough diamonds to keep the world glittering for 3,000 years. Popigai crater on the map of Russia The 'impact diamonds' have been 'classified' since the Stalin era, but Russia is now actively researching how to exploit the 'trillions and trillions of carats', a scientific conference in Novosibirsk was told at the weekend.
Russia says it's flush with 'trillions of carats' in extraterrestrial gems. Russia claims it has uncovered a diamond field of record dimensions in eastern Siberia which is the product of a prehistoric asteroid collision.
The Christian Science Monitor reports that the Russian government has recently declassified the discovery of the Popigai Astroblem in Siberia which is believed to contain "trillions of carats" in diamonds deposits, which would be more than enough to send global diamond markets into upheaval. The crater in the east of Siberia is reportedly 62 miles in diameter and believed to be the result of an asteroid collision with the earth approximately 35 million year ago. Russia reveals shiny state secret: It's awash in diamonds. 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.
Skip to next paragraph Fred Weir Correspondent Fred Weir has been the Monitor's Moscow correspondent, covering Russia and the former Soviet Union, since 1998. Recent posts Subscribe Today to the Monitor Click Here for your FREE 30 DAYS ofThe Christian Science MonitorWeekly Digital Edition 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.
Popigai. * pre-1977 K-Ar, Ar-Ar and Rb-Sr ages recalculated using the decay constants of Steiger and Jager (1977) Ages in millions of years (Ma) before present. ** Abbreviations: C - Crystalline Target; C-Ms - Metasedimentary Target; M - Mixed Target (i.e.sedimentary strata overlying crystalline basement); S - sedimentary target (i.e. no crystalline rocks affected by the impact event).
From Osinski. G. R., Spray J. G., and Grieve R. *** From Koeberl,C. Russia Diamond-Rich Crater Has Trillions Of Carats. September 18, 2012 Michael Harper for redOrbit.com — Your Universe Online Russia, it seems, has been keeping a big secret underground for years: A big, shiny secret.
According to the Christian Science Monitor, Russia yesterday released news about an expansive new field full of diamonds, ripe for the mining. All told, this new diamond field, which lies underneath an asteroid crater, contains “trillions of carats,” or enough to substantially shakeup the current status of the gem market and sustain it for the foreseeable future, say, 3,000 years. Russia discovered this huge diamond stash several decades ago in the 1970s beneath the Popigai Astroblem crater. When the Russians discovered this treasure trove of sparkling profit, they decided to keep quiet about it, as other diamond operations in the country, specifically in Mirny, Yakutia, were already producing enough diamonds to make a healthy profit. Source: Michael Harper for redOrbit.com – Your Universe Online.