Diamonds Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Diamonds - Research Paper Example According to the research paper "Diamonds" findings, diamonds are considered to have been originally discovered and mined in India. Over 6,000 years ago, substantial alluvial deposits of the stone were traced along Godavari, Krishna, and Penner Rivers in India (Koizumi, Nebel and Nesladek 4). Today, it is approximated that close to 130,000,000 karats of diamond are mined every year. This translates to about 26,000 kilograms of diamond being mined annually. Apart from this, it is also estimated that close to 100,000 kilograms of diamonds are synthesized every year (Pagel-Theisen 9). The exact amount of diamonds that exist in the world cannot be accurately established. However, at this current rate of mining and synthesis, a number of diamonds that exist can be estimated (Zaitsev 10). India has been leading the world in the production of diamond from the time they were discovered there around 9th century BC until mid 18th century AD. This led to the exhaustion of these sources. Diamond began being extracted from primary deposits of lamproites and kimberlites in the 1870s after being discovered in fields, in South Africa. Since then, its production is estimated to have reached 4,500,000,000 karats to date. This is approximately 900,000 kilograms of diamond (Koizumi, Nebel and Nesladek 33). Much of the diamond produced in the world is used for various purposes. A significant amount of diamond is used for industrial applications because of its characteristic high dispersion of light, and its hardness. Another common use of diamond is to make jewelry. Due to its electrical conductivity, diamond is also used as a semiconductor. Most of the diamond produced all over the world is used for these common purposes (Zaitsev 12). It is usually assumed that diamonds are solely fashion accessories. However, they have other numerous applications as stated (Pagel-Theisen 16). It is important to point out that most diamonds can be recycled. Sometimes, when diamonds are mined, not all of them are appropriate for use in making jewelry. This may be because of their size or quality. Such diamonds can be used to coat different cutting tools (Pagel-Theisen 44). This will make those cutting tools more effective because of the hardness of diamond. Tiny flawed diamonds may be used in other areas such as computing and optics. This shows that diamonds can be safely recycled by themselves. When glued to other parts for various uses, diamonds must be separated from these toxic parts before being recycled (Zaitsev 15). There are some cases whereby diamond cannot be recycled. These include instances where diamond was used in industries to grind other things, and it eventually turns into dust. According to the United States Geological Survey (USGS), in 2003, 4.9 million carats of industrially used diamond was recycled (Koizumi, Nebel and Nesladek 30). Diamonds are also being recycled through recutting and resetting. It is estimated that 49% of diamonds in the world come fro m Southern