DesertUSA.com/mb3

Hola amigo,

As far as I know, no one has figured out the origins of the California diamonds. Kimberlite is the most common host rock but (officially) no kimberlites have ever been found there. The other host rock is peridotite, I don't know of any peridotites in CA either. Modern diamond prospectors look for a specific type of indicator mineral, a pyrope garnet that is normally found with diamonds.

There is a story of a guy who claimed to have found a secret diamond mine in the Superstition mountains, which later turned out to be calcite crystals. But you are right - keep those eyes peeled and you really never know what you will find!
Royh

These pipes can disappear quite quickly considered in the terms of geologic time.
There are some 6,000 known pipes in the world but only a few dozen have any valuable diamond lodes. It amazing that any of this even occurs. A blast of gaseous heat rises from deep in the earth crust. On its way up it may rip these gems from the diamond stability zone & deliver these tough crystals to the surface. Other indicators around these area -- such as particular garnets--- give clues that perhaps diamonds are also about.

diamond days ahead!

Yo Plays!

Those links you found about ancient polish stones was !
The diamond link definitely needs to be copied over here.
I just learned about carbonados !
Black diamonds from space?
great sleuthing!
thnxs
ed

all about carbonados
http://www.sciencedaily.com/videos/2007 ... amonds.htm

roc2rol wrote:Yo Plays!

Those links you found about ancient polish stones was !
The diamond link definitely needs to be copied over here.
I just learned about carbonados !
Black diamonds from space?
great sleuthing!
thnxs
ed

No problem Ed, anytime. Glad I could help.

Plays

I think I should add a couple of things to the "diamond in California". While it came from somewhere not noted for diamonds, the material it was in was NOT regular desert material. It had a different color, and a different smell. It was checked out by a professional friend of ours, and his basic statement was that, it was probably an old, disintegrated kimberlite material, and it might be a good thing to test considerably deeper inside the material. This guy, our friend, is an expert in these sort of things, and does this as part of his career, and travels across the world.

The strange thing (not strange for a diamond area, but strange for the surrounding area that we were in), is that there was barite inside this area, also.

Beth (Mrs.O)

I know it’s a secret but basically what area of California
was this diamond discovered in?

What was the Barite like?
Do you recall if it was like whitish opaque & crystalline?

thxs always
ed

You are right - not too specific!!!

It was in the southern half of California! Of course, you probably know there is a barite mine or two in southern Kali.

I'd have to call them barite crystals, though they were small and whitish (hard to say opaque, since they were really not big enough to tell for sure). I brought a few of them home and brought them to our local college, because they have a building specifically for geology, and they said it was barite.

When our friend was there, he also picked some up. Strangely, when you went outside that particular area, we did not see any more (like I said before, this dirt was a different color and a different smell). I keep saying smell, because one
thing I noticed, instantly, in Mufreesboro, is that the ground smells differently.

I would love to be able to do some excavation in that area someday.

Beth (Mrs. O)

Hola amigos,

According to the "US Treasure Atlas" for Arizona, diamonds were reported found along the Santa Maria river in Yavapai county - no details however. <p 44, listing #218>
Roy

Diamond hoax of 1872
Basically a couple prospector showed up with some diamonds and claimed they had found them in Wyoming. They proceeded to interest some fairly serious ‘money men’ in this claim. They were very sly and reticent with their information

They would only reveal the location if they receive some up front money. When they received that money they went to England and purchased a bunch of gems. Then they salted the supposed mine site with these stones. They then revealed the location of the mine & sold off their land claim to the duppees for a considerable amount of money. It wasn’t long before these gentleman learned they had been duped!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diamond_hoax_of_1872

Ed

oroblanco wrote:Hola amigos,

According to the "US Treasure Atlas" for Arizona, diamonds were reported found along the Santa Maria river in Yavapai county - no details however. <p 44, listing #218>
Roy

It possible that there are diamond just waiting to be discovered.
I have heard from a very reliable source of Jade being found in Arizona recently.
Which officiably shouldn't exist in Arizona... geologically speaking ...