Lerala Diamond Mine

Diamond Exploration Keeps Evolving With Technology

While it may once have been relatively easy to unearth diamonds that lay just below the surface of the earth, many of those deposits have been all but exploited by over a century of prospecting. Nowadays, the many rough diamonds that remain are located far below ground level, requiring huge powerful expensive equipment to locate and extract.

 

 

As a result, only diamond companies with experience at deep drilling and with the deep pockets to finance such operations are capable of unearthing rough diamonds from deep underground in the twenty-first century.

 

 

Diamond exploration consists of several phases of work. These include carrying out geophysical studies at surface level and electromagnetic studies conducted from airplanes in flight. Once data points to the presence of kimberlite, sample drilling must be conducted, in order to determine the economic viability of a deposit.

 

 

Diamonds may very well be present in a certain location, but if the amount of money necessary to extract it is relatively high and the amount of money that would be generated by selling the stones would be relatively low, then the project must be shelved. This will remain the case until a new, cheaper drilling technology is developed, or until the price of rough diamonds increases to the point that the enterprise becomes worthwhile.

 

 

Interestingly, the mining of diamonds allowed for the intensified mining of many other minerals, as diamond drill bits are used to burrow through the bedrock.

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