Hi Everyone:
Diamond prospecting isn't too hard if you know what to look for. This photo was recently posted publicly by another diamond expert (Dan Hausel) whom I've worked with and have grown to respect over the past few years. I am excited to now be able to share some knowledge through this forum as I have endured much difficulty in the early years while learning about diamond prospecting on my own.
The specimens in this photo are great examples of "indicator minerals" that were recovered from a diamond bearing area (Sloan Ranch kimberlite pipes #1 & #2) right here in Colorado. If you ever find minerals that resemble these specimens in any of your samples, I'd advise you to consider testing the prospect area for DIAMONDS!
Sincerely,
ASTROBLEME
Of course, the best indicator of a diamond mining deposit is to be successful in finding diamonds.
Here is a photo of my first diamond recovery a few years ago. It is hard to explain the excitement...even today...at finding diamond crystals right here in Colorado!
ASTROBLEME
thanks for the info and pics!
Great pics & great info. Keep it coming. Thanks for sharing.
Very cool diamond find Astrobleme! I bet you were a happy prospector that day for sure!
I remember an excellent documentary done about Chuck's Canadian adventures, very good story.
And the ending description about what he did after his success and he sold the mine........he headed right back out to prospect for more.
Thanks for posting, great stuff! Like NM Jack said.....Keep it comin'!
CP
Hello Everyone Prospecting for Diamonds:
Kimberlites that contain diamonds also carry several other minerals. The most well known are the garnets. Many diamond prospectors search for these garnets since they are much more numerous than diamonds. The colors can be very different and the best way to tell if a garnet was from a diamond bearing pipe is to do a detailed analysis on the chemistry.
Why? Because diamonds contain inclusions and some of those inclusions have been identified as being garnets. The garnets that have the chemistry known to be found in diamond bearing kimberlitic pipes are described as G-9 or G-10. I have collected garnets ranging from purple through wine to bright red in coloration from the surface expressions known as pans in the State Line Mining District. The color isn't so much as an indicator of a kimberlitic pipe containing diamonds as the diamonds are. It is my opinion that far too much time and money is being spent around the world looking for "diamond indicators" than there is actually digging up diamonds!
Here's a photo of some of the garnets I have collected from diamond bearing kimberlitic pipes here in Colorado.
Heck, I would be happy just to find those indicator minerals you have posted at the top. The color of those garnets is awesome
Very cool stuff. That means that Mr Tonko has come close to his sorce since the stone in the first pic has matrix still stuck to it. It makes since too. Being that diamond is harder than ALL its surroundings it just gets polished. I'd love to hear his story.
Astrobleme, what info do you have on NM if any?? I have found some garnet and the telltale blue ground on some of my claims.
This Is the one I was Interested in , there was never a claim over here ever , I liked the name "lady moon lake" it has destinct craters in the lake Floor. This lake is private but the ponds were all locatable , i was going to claim it just cause how it looked on google earth ,Couldnt locate ON so i lost interest these were even over 2 miles from diamonex as their sister company was going to work with me as long as i was 2 miles away from diamonex , I thought of the sites upon visiting poor Targets and lost interest , but the large lake remains a mystery ,
Id say with all the attention in this area someone should make an effort here , even though the lakes private look at it! It Looks Special , WHAT IF , could be , even part of sec 1 is locatable
But Thanks Anyways Dan and Denise whom helped answer many questions about claiming , but thats what happened to the lakes that i was talking about possibly filling on. as shown never seen a claim
to clarify my last post about lady moon ;
this is a private lake but could be leased and drilled maybe even mined , this is an unexplored pipe in the red feather lakes region
While telling dan i was going to explore this area i asked if he been there before and he said;
"even though the lake was private Lady Moon this was top of his list of places Given to diamonex to investigate "
personal communication Dan Hausel 2008
this is 1 of Dans Discoveries ...
some of the area is locatable but the lake itself is private but most of the surrounding is NF Land and is locatable almostl all the way up to the large lake which is private
I explored some of this area and didnt find anything keeping my attention and the larger better portion of the anomoly was private, so i left this area
I am not liable for any use or misuse of this place or idea ,this information is for a professional company that wants to drill, this area might be worth poking around ;)
this is a target that needs alot of groundwork but is a free reference and possibly a free diamond mine to be found haha
there may be another hidden intrusion on some of the claimable adjacent NF land or maybe a lease can be arranged on the private lake .
Nice arial of your kimberlite pipes Astrobleme, can sure see a distinct difference in the deposited material. Would definately enjoy finding something like that someday......very cool!
So when out prospecting and you notice a clear "difference" in ground color, rock form, etc......that would be a great place to check out!
Diamonds normally aren't found with any matrix if I remember it right so yep I would agree, musta' been right at the source.
Great info Bennie thanks, sorry to hear you lost interest in that area though. Many times private land owners will make lease arrangements to work deposits within their land, just never know until you inquire with them.
Oh fiddlesticks! Now I got a hankerin' to go out diggin'! See what ya'll did!
Great info, and we would love to hear more about the prospecting stories and work that followed for those pipes Astrobleme......with lots more pics of course!
CP
Great info, and we would love to hear more about the prospecting stories and work that followed for those pipes Astrobleme......with lots more pics of course!
CP
[/quote]
Dear CP:
Here's a pic of my first pipe discovery. The "soft" kimberlite eroded during many, many milions of years, leaving a crater like basin inside steep walled "hard granite" cliffs. The steep walls now surround a lake that has formed over the clays resulting from the breakdown of the kimberlite. Other researchers have noted that grass prefers to grow over kimberlite pipes but trees avoid it. You can really see the tree line well above the waterline here.
Dear CP:
Here's a photo of the site where the first drill sampling of one of my discoveries was initiated. This lode claim target is named the "Sands of Time" and it is situate within the South Lost Lakes Placer Claim. It was drilled to a depth of 300 feet in the fall of 2007.
Dear CP:
This is a recent photo of the surveyed access route that leads into the USFS approved drill site at Lost Lake. As I'm sure you will remember, this is where I had the "CLAIM JUMPER" problem with Bennie Ulibarri.
Dear CP:
This pic is of Diamond Mountain. The rock mountain lies within the State Line Mining District. It was named way, way before anyone knew there were any naturally occuring diamond deposits nearby. I think that possibly this area had some involvement with an old story about a diamond hoax but the details escape me at this moment.
Dear CP:
I found another set of recent photos (Sept 2008) that detail what a kimberlite target drill site looks like. These two photos are of one of the lakes that are visible in the aerial photo I posted earlier.
This is the actual staked drilling site...
[attachment=3060:drillholell2.JPG]
The view below is from the drill site southward that shows the staked access route into the drill site following along the lake shore. Again you will notice that the USFS is trying to mitigate the impact on perennial vegetation by keeping the equipment access route below high water line. Off highway vehicles tear through this muddy area illegally and I have seen my blue ground splattered along roads 1/2 mile away from this site as they leave the area with my blue clay on their tires!
You can see again that the trees standoff from the kimberlite pipe but the grass prefers it. This is a great field indicator for possible sample sites.
Dear CP:
Here's another photo I've taken recently. Bennie previously posted his "discovery" pics of my claims a few weeks ago on this forum at
http://www.coloradoprospector.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=2338
Dear CP:
I saw this rainbow coming down over the horizon onto my diamond mining claims at Happy Jack recently. All the leprechauns left before I arrived.
Ha ha good post. thanks for the pics!!! I like the rainbow, it will lead you to gol.....errr....diamonds. I also like the fact that trees tend to not like that type of ground. I had no idea of that. Is that generally the same for all over the world with pipes? Cool keep these post coming. Good read
Great pics & info.
Fantastic info and pics Astrobleme.......very cool.
Can't wait to hear about the successful drill tests too.... When it comes time to start excavating let me know, I'm pretty good with some of them big yellow dirt tools!
I bet the water has alot to do with where the grass/trees grows too. With the natural depression holding more moisture longer in that area would definately cause different vegetation and fawna. Notice the aspen trees all right inside the pines? I'm no tree surgeon but I think aspens tap roots need to reach water where as pines don't do well over the long term in that same moisture. Gives us a clue, as it did many old time prospectors, to where water is or isn't close to the surface.
Hope to hear more about these soon, thanks for sharing. Great stuff!!
CP
Thanks for the added info Astrobleme and I completely understand that you can not reveal too much detail of ops up and coming.
Great advice for the diamond prospecting, thank you!
CP
Since I am not that familiar with claims can you tell me what the boxes mean? Are your claims inside all the boxes? What do the different colored boxes mean? What limits you to the amount of claims you can have? Thanks
sometimes people make mistakes even county clerks ,as they givin me the wrong page's on these claims ,
also due to the camping and fishing symbols on all of my road map's, I made the assumption that the bottom lake was unclaimable just like the bottom Creedmore Lakes were
Its not a "recreation area" even though there is many campsites on both sides of the lake and the maps say "picnick area" even your map does , my atlas had fishing symbols on this lake lol
Im sorry Astrobleme , I didnt know it was claimed and even claimable for that matter , im sorry , i would of never been there had i been furnished the correct information
it will not happen again , im a busy bee and i will be buzzing new areas
im sorry for reacting the way I did there tonko ,
Hausel said your a nice guy , this was a misunderstanding to boot , i was wrong
also i would like to see a clearer picture of that diamond, in the picture it resembled a tan chlorite, the picture is aweful dark though
cool cool you guys keep on posting some good info because I have been learning a lot. Thanks
Do you guys have a specific book or reference material to check out regarding finding, identifying, and mining diamond deposits? I thought about getting Elrich & Hausel's book. I already have 2 or 3 books about diamonds but I want something more specific, more atuned to what I said. Any suggestiuons?
id like to read/aquire your book when its done! please let us know.
Hello Everyone:
Hope you had a Merry Christmas!
The State Line Mining District where I have the diamond claims staked is related to an impact crater-like formation called the Virginia Dale Ring Dike Structure. The remnant ring dike rims that are still visible create a crater like expression at least 12 miles across. This structure has similar characteristics to the larger Vredefort Ring in South Africa. Several diamond mines had been developed around the Vredefort Ring long before it was confirmed as an impact crater. As yet, I have been unable to find firm evidence of impact at Virginia Dale but interestingly, the old Kelsey Lake diamond mine sits squarely in one of the rings!
It was amazing to me to see the kimberlite pipes emplaced into the deep granite crust west of Fort Collins and I was curious as to why it occurred there and not everywhere else that there was an ancient thick granite crust. I've developed a theory that diamonds were being brought up by the ancient impacts of large meteorites/comets and I have mapped many diamond areas around the globe that were located within or near impact craters. My thinking is that the over-pressure put upon the crust during an asteroid or comet impact has allowed for kimberlite magma to be ejected through the crater ring "cracks" generated as a result from a reflex shock wave generated during the hyper-velocity impact. I would say it is kind of like putting your finger tightly to an orange peel and watching the juice "erupt" from the skin. Kimberlite emplacement is always from deep sources and it is fast and quick...not prolonged like normal volcanism. As it turns out, the Russians had also observed this phenomenon and have made diamond discoveries near craters within the past few decades. The Virginia Dale Precambrian Ring-Dike Complex was first recognized by W. A. Braddock in 1962. In 1968, D. H. Eggler researched the structure and wrote his thesis on his findings. In 1970, R. S. Wing and L. F. Dellwig thought the structure may have had an influence on the Ferris-Aultman and other known Paleozoic age diatremes in the State Line vicinity.
Many scientists had dismissed the potential for meteorite/comet creation of the Vredefort Ring. The same thing has happened with Virginia Dale, in my opinion. Please consider my advice here...if you are prospecting an area near a known impact crater, I'd suggest that you also look for diamonds that may be associated with the crater. If the initial impact didn't bring diamonds to the surface, the resulting fractures in the granite may have allowed for later intrusive events to find a way up to the surface. In fact, many kimberlite pipes have shown multiple emplacements within the same diatreme. This makes sampling even more important since some parts of the pipe are too lean yet other intrusions have plenty of diamonds. Here's a USGS photo that I touched up with the ring dikes as related to the Kelsey Lake diamond mine.
Can you look for shocked quartz to determine if there was an impact? Well, I guess it would have been so long ago that most of the sign would have eroded away. good read Mr. tonko
thats some interesting concepts there JT ,
In the Kelsey Lake Area, "there are atleast 5 major Faults which help controll the location of the pipes" (Eggler and others) .
many other pipes throughout the district are ON or near major faults,
An excellent Documented Example Are the sloan 1&2 Kimberlites in colorado, where these pipes are situated ON the "copper king fault" and ON the "prairie divide fault "
throughout the district a good portion of all Anomolys are Fault controlled pipes , when looking for kimberlites, "im looking for kimberlite" lol , im looking for where it escaped. and where it came out the ground and can be found , im looking for all or any clues to help find them , I tend to stay looking around favorable precambrian basemented areas , Faults In Precambrian Basements are favorable terraines to host kimberlites , and are good places to look...
theres Millions's of faults to be investigated in these precambrian areas ,,,
Also some areas of these precambrian outcrops are host to hot springs and gold and platinum group mineralization and other anomolys and or subductions, which make portions unfavorable to host a kimberlite , like southern colorado the (AKA the gold rush ,Southern Colorado!!!),
But its all about the Kimberlite Intrusive , where did it pop out at , then Diamond Feasability and the possibility commercial mining is definatley another can of worms so to speak
most people wouldnt be able to identify a kimberlite , even Chronic and Ferris in 1960 when they discovered Both the ferris and aultman kimberlites in wyoming (which are private and owned) they didnt know it was a kimberlite ,they did notice lower paleozoic carbonates surrounded by precambrian the granite , discovered by chronic and Ferris in 1960 and identified as a kimberlite by McCallum in 1964
these anomolys apear to be partially fault controlled aswell as many kimberlites worldwide .
I found an interesting youtube video along with this picture which will kind of explain favorable terraines for diamonds this video is GREAT 1!!! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QDqskltCixA now find the stablest and Oldest portions of the craton and look for an destinctly different intrusion there LOL
colorado can have kimberlites simmiliar to Africa and Australia and geochemmically tested some do ...
thanks for letting me contribute , if you wanna read anything else I authored youll have to wait til I complete my project - But I will let you all know
Thanks for reading and watching
Bennie
(photo courtesy of Dan Hausel)
Did any of you guys ever sluice "down stream" or in the drainage basin of these kimberlite areas? Didn't I read somewhere that 1000's of feet of overlay in that area had eroded away which would include the kimberlite pipes. That would make for areas of high concentrations of loose diamonds in gravels and stream beds. Another question why is there an absence of "yellow ground"? Is the kimberlite not decayed enough? thanks
jason
amguy
Sure seems like a good idea Jason!
The impact theroy has me just fascinated! Thanks for the input Johnny. I can see how many folks in the public would have a real hard time with the whole scale of the theroy......an impact so severe that life on the planet probably changed dramatically and may well have caused the earths crust to crack (shock waves) possibly setting off dormant or un-erupted volcanos for hundreds of miles around the impact and then of course causing magmatic eruptions through the created faults. WHAT A SHOW THAT MUST HAVE BEEN!
Then try to imagine on top of all this that when the impact occured, Colorado was, more than likely, completely underwater as well as not having the Rocky mountains evolution at that time, or at least not as they stand today or even close. WHEW!
I find the theroy not only fascinating but very fesable and I bet in a short time there will be some histroy re-written from the new impact studies recently undertaken by several researchers. TOO COOL!
I smell smoke and me ears are hot!!
Good stuff!
as far as diamond bearing kimberlites in the stateline district go ,
lets go off facts ok
fact is all these kimberlites are found in an Archean portion of the Craton , Like everywhere else in the world that diamondifferious kimberlites are found . and these are a intrusions in this solid basement.
a volcanoe would burn a diamond up , a kimberlite freezez and isnt Molten hot , the second a diamond was Forged its frozen and preserved and within seconds kimberlite is transported to the surphase a frozen mass that thaws and then erodes , full of mantle rocks and misc specimens preserved in the kimberlite its undeniable the heat it takes to make a diamond but its undesputable at that temperature that shortly after the crystal is created it can be graphitized (burnt) .
as i posted before , when kimberlite erodes it releases acids and it disolves everything in it except diamond leaving a clay with other colored clays in it
WATCH THAT VIDEO 2 POSTS UP , you can see the kimberlites bieng made, CARBON DATING PROVES these pipes in colorado and wyoming to be between 200 and 800 million years old in age Coincidentally created at the same time these cratons were bouncing around which did infact happen, this is the best example i can give you as far as the creation and formation of diamond and kimberlites =Watch the videohttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QDqskltCixA
absolutley JT
diamond preservation in kimberlites isnt a big issue, as the MgO contents in picoilemenites almost always proves that "kimberlites" tend to preserve diamond,when indicatorminerals , Kimberlites are common worldwide and Kimberlites make ideal diamond mines.
these gas and xenolith rich peridotic breccias freeze and dont weather and decompose until introduced to water when unwheathered theyre full of many rare mantle treasures some of which are extremely valuable gemstones other than diamond (eclogites,lherzolites, moissanite),
also graphite mines and nearby areas are totally unrelated to kimberlite . diamonds recovered from such operations are always graphatized and of poor quality even as industrial use
Howdy Everyone:
Hope you all had a Merry Christmas and are ready for a Prosperous New Year.
Scientists just released this information today about comets/asteroids creating diamonds. They are too small to be of commercial value but they are diamonds related to impacts!
The links are;
http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=did-a-comet-hit-earth-12900-years-ago
or
http://uk.reuters.com/article/scienceNewsMolt/idUKTRE5013YZ20090102
or
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7808171.stm
or
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/02/science/02impact.html?bl&ex=1231045200&en=81a60e4dd616eb41&ei=5087%0A
Hopefully one of the links will still work when you read this post. Google listed 114 articles this afternoon so the information should remain on someone's server for awhile.
Sincerely,
ASTROBLEME
Fantastic info Johnny! Thanks for posting the links for us.
Mr. Tonko I really like your idea of the correlation between impacts and kimberlites. I was doing a little research on the subject. This is one of the most informative post I have read on any forum. Bennie and Mr. Tonko you guys have done a good job on this one
Wow! Very cool information, thank you Johnny. All those links work too by the way. Great reading!
I may have not worded myself correctly in my last post but I think I've got the gist of it.
Great information for everyone to learn about, I'm sure everyone who's been reading along so far, and does in the future will find this an awesome thread! Keep it coming Johnny! We all really enjoy reading about your experiences and discoveries!
Can't wait to see what is learned next that may cause a page or two from history to be adjusted.
CP
I just came across this new website that has some valuable information for diamond prospectors...
http://gemhunter.webs.com/diamonds.htm
ASTROBLEME
Great info Johnny. Have you ever looked at NM? Sure makes me curious about some of the places
I've been.
Hi Everyone:
This discussion has been running for more than a year and I had to delete the photos to free up some room for new postings. Please feel free contact me directly if you are interested in any of the pictures and I'll send you an e-mail copy.
Have a Merry Christmas!
Johnny
Oh rats, you must have hit a server memory limit Johnny. I've taken care of that I believe and you should not have that problem anymore.
Please do email those pics over and I'll reload them into the forums....hopefully in the right posts. Maybe if you number them for me? Then I'll have a good chance of getting them in the right places.
CP
Ok, got all those pics loaded back into the thread except one which we'll try to get in later if possible.
Thank you again for sharing them with us all Johnny, this is a great thread with awesome information, very glad to have the pics back to demonstrate the discussion.
CP
Johnny, why not tell us about diamonds found in lamprophere intrusives? I read up a bit on the lamprophere intrusives in the Wasatch Plateau of Central Utah, some years ago. The particular intrusives where in the cretaceous period sandstones, and were a nuisance for the coal miners.
yep, id like to have that kind of nuisance myself!
Except there they really weren't diamond-bearing as those found in the Broken Hill region of Australia, or the SE Urals of Russia.
I just moved to Laporte and hope to drive up there this spring a bunch to do some prospecting for diamonds and other rare mantle minerals. If anyone wants a 25 year old geology major as partner/apprentice in the area hit me up.
Also would sluicing with a gold sluice be best or a greese table/pan for finding my first diamond? I know a few people who dredge here in CO who say they have found a few diamonds in their cons.
Tom
Hello Tom:
It has been my experience that a pan or sluice will work fine without adding "grease". While a grease table works well in a controlled environment, the stuff that gets into the sluice out in the field really sticks to the grease if it has carbon in it. Bugs, roots, leaves and various other carbon based items will cause you more trouble than it is worth, in my opinion.
As long as your sluice is set up to catch the black sands, diamonds will also be trapped. Just keep the riffles clean and you should do fine. Be sure to get permission from claim owners and/or private holdings to avoid any problems. Diamond prospects are well patrolled up there.
Good luck!
ASTROBLEME
Thanks for the advice, I was thinking that would be the case with the non polar detritus. I know how to set up the sluice to catch garnets which are a similar SG and I will clean up often.
Seems like its a railroad style checkerboard pattern of public and private land, how can I find who owns the private land?
I started prospecting in NH for gold and aqua/tourmaline and there are no claims so I am not used to the paperwork and claims research side but I know I have to be diligent to do right.
You just never know what might show up on the web!
Here's a link I found this morning that details a non-confidential Notice of Intent that has been made publicly accessible for one of my diamond mining claims;
http://drmsweblink.state.co.us/drmsweblink/DocView.aspx?id=856235&page=3&dbid=0
Perhaps this might help some of you that are considering putting together an operation for large scale prospecting.
ASTROBLEME
hey forest walker, to find out who owns what peice of land go to your county seat/court hous and ask to buy thier county platt book. it has all owners of that particular countys land listed and shows a map of their boundarys. i usually buy them when im looking for land to buy!they are very handy!
Thanks Astrobleme, that's very interesting reading and a great reference for folks possibly doing the same type of activities on their claims and the proper use of a notice of intent form and wording within. Two thumbs up!
CP
Good to have that on the record so people can have more of an idea, I'd never seen a NOI before.
Thanks russ, sounds expensive though I'l head over to the offices after class sometime.
the platt books ive bought cost from $25./$35 each but that price varies with the countys. to me this is a very good referance source for info! i buy one foreach county i plan to dredge in so i can find out who the owner of a peice of land is without asking all of the land owners,some of which dont want you there!
http://drmsweblink.state.co.us/drmsweblink/DocView.aspx?id=856234&page=3&dbid=0
Here's a link to Permit No. P2008001 that DiamonEx filed in an effort to revise their drilling plans for my claims at Bull Garden. The original plan was to drill multiple holes along a boundary fence to determine if the pipe continued onto adjacent lands. This revised NOI came just weeks before the company ran into financial troubles and was forced to cancel the project.
For those that find themselves in a position to move forward on a large scale project, remember that plans can be revised but it can delay permitting. Make sure to plan appropriately so that revisions are not required that will slow down a project or delay it unexpectedly.
ASTROBLEME
Great advice Astrobleme, thanks for posting this information up.
Good luck to everyone on their diamond prospecting adventures!
I thought I'd add in some more information I've saved in recent information gatherings with all the diamond prospecting information already posted in this thread. Excellent thread here everyone thanks!
First is a pdf document from the Colorado state geological survey rock talk series titled "Colorado Diamonds". Well worth downloading for your own references if you are prospecting for diamonds around Colorado.
ColoradoDiamonds_RockTalk_rtv2n3.pdf ( 1.59MB )
: 1848
Next is a link from the Wyoming state geological survey with more information relating to the Colorado Wyoming area called the state line district.
http://www.wsgs.uwyo.edu/Topics/Gemstones/Diamonds.aspx.
This one is a link to the Geology.com diamond information page with more cool info to read up on. http://geology.com/minerals/diamond.shtml
And another link to our own Colorado diamond page here at ColoradoProspector.com with additional great info and links for daimonds.
http://www.coloradoprospector.com/Gems&Minerals/Diamond.html
Happy prospecting out there everyone, stay safe.
CP
That .pdf article was really good...printed it up and will keep, thanks!
SEARCHING FOR PLACER DIAMONDS
Worth saving to disk.
http://www.wsgs.uwyo.edu/Publications/OnlinePubs/docs/IP-12new.pdf
Boogie
Very interesting stuff on this link.
First let me say Hi to everyone as I am new to the forum but I am very old to diamond mining.
In my experience diamonds behave much differently than gold when it is washed away from the source material (Alluvial diamonds)
The old prospectors would and did find the odd diamond here and there but a sluice is not the right way to find diamonds. You need a diamond washing plant, they can be small or big depending on your budget.
The most efficient diamond plant is the 14 foot washing plant. Many of them are build to be a mobile unit that can be towed behind a truck or a serious 4 x 4.
The 14 foot pan is capable of washing many tons of gravel per day and you can sort the heavy concentrates almost every 15 minutes. You will need a excavator to pile the alluvial gravel onto a stock pile and a front end loader to pick the gravel up and feed it directly into the wash pan. No need to feed slowly since the pan feeds itself with buckets on a conveyor belt, almost like the old water wheels were powered. Similar concept.
Anyway if you can afford to setup this kind of operation you will need to make sure your tests are done in controlled circumstances I suggest you test the pan properly before you go into production.
The speed with witch the pan sorting arms turn must be very specific the consistency of the water and soil sludge must be %100 correct in order to push the diamonds out to the edge of the pan. If it turns too fast or too slow you will loose diamonds. So experience is the key, you must know how to tap the concentrates into a bucket (Old fashioned Milking bucket) and when to tap the concentrates out of the pan.
Once all this is done and you have your four to six buckets full of concentrate you have to classify and sort. Here we use a half a 44 gallon drum, and four diamond sieves about 20 inches across from large to small. Pour one bucket at a time into the top sieves make sure they are properly stacked on top of each other and the drum is filled almost to the top with water. Then you classify the stones the same way as you would gold bearing gravel. With diamonds it is slightly different because they are bigger than gold flakes. So you carefully scan the rocks for any diamonds. They can be any color so I always hold the top two sieves under a Blue light (Ultraviolet) All diamonds are florescent and they show up blue in color blue so they are very easy to spot.
The third sieve is usually where the diamonds are, up to three carats in size will be in this pan. This one you shake under water and rotate the pan about 15 degrees every time you shake it, usually about ten times this will rotate the light gravel to the outside of the sieve and the heavy stones will be in the center of the sieve if you do it right the black sand/stones will form a circle in the middle of the sieve.
Now you have to turn the sieve over onto the sorting table (In the shade) with one swift move, then drop the sieve a few times onto the sort table to make sure everything is out. Then comes the FUN part. I use a small 4 inch builders plaster trowel to separate and screen the concentrates. But usually the diamonds are lying on the top of the concentrates and they are easy to spot if you know what to look for.... just look for the bright one of a kind shine! I always run the ultra violet light over the rest of the wastes just in case, no one is perfect!
Well I hope this helps you a little in your prospecting endeavors.
DD
after checking my wifes expensive wedding with my flo. light not all of them glowed. i got scared!! then i was told that not all diamonds were florecent. so what is it? glow or not to glow?? long wave or short wave to check them out?
Hi,
I did say I only use the light after I sorted the concentrate.. However here is another link explaining the question.
http://www.diamondhelpers.com/fivesteps/4-fluorescence.shtml
So if I missed any that do.. I can get them!
DD
thanks for the link Digger!
Diamond Digger posted this in the Off Topic forum under "Halo All Prospectors" topic. I found it very interesting since one of my first sampling efforts recovered a stone much like he was describing...
Hi,
Your questions are interesting. But you should never worry too much about how it got to the surface just that it is there!
I am not a Geologist but I held many pieces of Kimberlite in my hands and I sure know what to look for and how to spot it.
Garnets is the first indicator you want to see small dark purple ones. Then Feldspar, ilminite etc they are good indicators but a tip I can give you is to look for the pointer stone.... (Spits in the corner ) It is a dirty white stone small usually around 5-10 mil big looks like two separate stones joined by a dirty brown band... in any direction, hence dirty stone. The lore is you will always find a diamond right next to one of them. At first I thought it a joke so the old man took me into the field with a test sieve and we spend the day looking for dead gravel. This is gravel that does not bear diamonds. We did find some and it looked OK from afar but close up the indicators were gone. On the way back we did a quick hand wash of some promising samples and found a small .3ct diamond next to you guessed it.... a dirty stone!
Have fun.
DD
Here is a photo of the brown and white banded stone I recovered on my very first sampling effort for diamonds several years ago. After reading DD's post, I remembered the odd brown and white rock so I went back into my old samples and put together this picture to share...
Johnny,
Well yeah it looks like the same rock but once washed a little down a stream its a dirty old bugger and no idea why, you find one of them the diamond will be next to it.
Unfortunately I have no video or pictures of mining. Just never thought I will want any, how sad is that?
I am designing a new diamond wash plant at the moment.
So far it looks quite exciting so we shall see how it works once I get it going. I have incorporated a gold separation unit so if any gold comes into the plant it ain't going out thats for sure.
Have a good one.
DD
And a very Happy new year to you too!
May your only worries be where to invest all your money!
DD
Gents,
I have seen many video's and have done lots of research piles and piles of documents and files under my frustrated belt LOL. I am dying to get to the USA with my diamond mining knowledge and to build a proper diamond wash pan (Much Different than a gold wash plant)
There is just so much potential to mine diamonds.... sigh.... One riverbed produced a 7ct white stone that alone will pay for all my expenses building the plant! Massive untapped resources.
It is so frustrating.
So if anyone of you guys are up for a challenge get hold of me.
DD
the way the ecconomy is right now, id be afraid to start up anything! wacoenviromentalists are telling our gubermint what todo and when todo it despit what our federal laws say we can do!
eco-hippy positive??? just wait untill you hit the good ole American shores and find out how popular youd be with them when they find out you want to dig into "mother earth"!! they are against any form of mining,logging,ranching (grazing rights) and if you dont fit into "theyre" ideal setting, your bad for "mother earth"! do some research on earth first!
Yeah.. but then Women are bad for you as well but we still love them LOL
So not all Bad things are bad hehehehe
DD
The law protects both the miner and the resource. If an individual miner or a mining company cannot comply with the law, they cannot do business. Pretty simple concept in my opinion.
I grew up in coal camps where a company would post a small bond, tear up everything that stood in the way of getting out the coal by strip mining and then...surprise after they cashed the checks for the production...go out of business and let the bond cover the mess. Well, the bonding was set so low that reclamation couldn't be funded so the taxpayer footed the bill. I saw the same trucks with the same drivers change their names from "Mining Company" to "Reclamation Company" and further profit from their earlier efforts!
If the individual or company cannot comply with modern mining laws, they will not get the permits needed to operate. The government saw the same thing I did growing up...too many people jumping their bonds and walking away to let everyone else pay for their destruction.
Good mining plans will get approved with an adequate bonding fund to assure proper reclamation.
ASTROBLEME
Here is a great resource on diamond discovery in Colorado that was published this month...
http://www.palosverdes.com/sblap/agatizer.pdf
ASTROBLEME
Astro,
mmm checked it did not see anything about diamonds?
DD
Here is a link that was posted in Africa today (2-16-2011) covering news of the company that was trying to re-open the diamond mine on the Sloan Ranch.
http://www.mmegi.bw/index.php?sid=4&aid=968&dir=2011/February/Wednesday16
ASTROBLEME
Astro,
That mine can be made to pay but sadly it seems that it's not. Simple mistakes will cost you a fortune that's why you should never start a mine if you have to employ the so- called experts. If you yourself do not know what you are doing do not even try it. It will cost you...
I bet way to much was spend on setting up the "equipment" and salaries for the big boys.. what with a loan of $10Mil us? WOW
I can start a mine with $2 mil and make a success of it. Why? Not because I am better than the experts but because I grew up on a Diamond Diggings and I know how to get them out of the ground, (and I have done it before with much less cash), Hard Kimberlite or Alluvial gravel, the cheapest way possible. Being Cheap is what it is all about. You cannot spend money on anything that is not recovery related... I am sitting on Two Kimberlite pipes and I know I can make them pay within a very short time but I do not have the cash backing these guys had.
Phew! How could they loose that kind of money????
Makes one wonder.
Either way wish I was there lol
DD
Here is an interesting article from Mining.com on 1/19/12
Dan, that link is busted... getting an "error 404 page not found" when I hit it
Woops my bad, I broke the link when I posted it.
Should work now.
The Wyoming State Geological Survey recently posted this information on some of the early work in the State Line Diamond District.
http://www.wsgs.uwyo.edu/public-info/onlinepubs/docs/RI-12.pdf
ASTROBLEME
boy are they slow! look at the date of when it was written Septeber 1976 ...........im going to save this to my favorites.
Johnny,
If all goes well I should be in the US pretty soon.
I am bringing a South African made diamond wash plant with me and as soon as I am settled in on the claim I will be in touch and you can come for a visit.
Maybe we can sort something out.
Andy
Today it was announced that Harry Winston Diamond Corp is paying $500 million for an 80% interests in the Ekati mine and marketing operations. That Canadian diamond mine has only 7 years life left.
Hi,
Yeah keep in touch will contact you as soon as we are settled, but Colorado is the place as Wyoming is claimed up By every Tom Dick and harry!
And the Oil and Gas companies are everywhere no chance of that!
But do contact Johnny he is a nice guy and might give you a hand!
Andy
Colorado and Wyoming have been in an extended drought for about a decade now. I have established water rights for the lakes that form over my diamond pipes. That water is used for processing the decomposed blue kimberlite clays that hold tight to the diamonds. This assures me an adequate supply for mining purposes without being curtailed by junior water rights holders or governmental entities that do not support mining activities.
In order for someone to start a wash plant this spring, there must be water rights or an augmentation plan that has already been approved in place for the 2013 season. If not, it will be very difficult to secure a suitable water supply to mine or run bulk samples given the current conditions and long term outlook. There has been a water component to mining activities in the west from the very start in the 1800's. Those mines that had the water rights were often the only ones that prospered. It is still the same thing today but the focus now is on high volume gold leaching, hydraulic fracking for natural gas and oil shale development. Water engineers and water attorneys are paid very well due to the demand for their services/expertise. Mining has always had many challenges and water in the west is still a BIG ONE!
Take a look at the newest Google Earth map photo overlays from fall of 2012 and you can see how much the natural lake levels across the Stateline Mining District pipes has dropped. If you use the "timeline" tool, you can see that the lakes are getting much smaller over time. This lack of precipitation is good for prospecting "new" targets but it will hamper wash plant activities unless the weather trend changes drastically in the next few weeks. I used this low water cycle to my advantage in the drought cycle starting in 2002. I was able to sample targets that I had identified but could not work previously due to the water being too deep over the lake bottoms in the many years before the drought. Now I am looking at a very different problem. If the drought goes on for another decade, I may have to seek out an x-ray machine or other device that is able to recover diamonds with much less water. Anyone ever heard of a "diamond dry washer"?
Pray for
ASTROBLEME
Hello Everyone,
In the ICMJ's Prospecting and Mining Journal this month (Jan 2014) you will find a well written and informative article that has lots of information about diamonds. W. Dan Hausel gives some good tips on where to look for diamonds in Prospecting for Diamonds in Kimberlite starting on page 54. Dan's advice for where to focus a search for diamonds in Colorado is spot on in this article, in my opinion.
ASTROBLEME
Hello everyone. I know this thread is a bit old but was hoping to find some info on if there's any good place to go to learn how to identify kimberlites, indicator minerals, etc. I'm just starting out with this hobby. I've been a novice rockhounder (forever it seems) and am definitely more in this for the hunt/discovery than thinking I'm going to get rich, but of course that would be a great side benefit. I'm hoping for some hands on experience but it seems I've jumped on this bandwagon on the tail end of local popularity as it seems the local gem/mineral clubs aren't very active. I'm ready to learn a bit more and start some serious digging as compared to the digging through dump sites, etc. as I've done in the past. Any direction would be much appreciated. I'm absorbing all I can from the web and Dan's info and am going to be looking into the many links/books that have been suggested here. Any other "must do's" for a beginner or location to go get some honest to goodness hands on "this is what you do" instructions?
Thank you!!
Misty (Seek in Shadows)
Misty-
Sounds like you've already done a fair bit of reading, which is good. Identification of kimberlites in the field, when you have limited to no experience with them, can be very difficult - even for seasoned geologists. The rock type just isn't that common, and there are many variations in the lithologies readily discernable at the outcrop level. Like all rocks/minerals, the ability to identify then accurately is directly associated with how much you have previously handled that rock type, and how well you undertand the processes that formed it.
I would suggest that you continue reading what you can - sounds like you've been reading alot of what D.H. has on the web in regards to the Stateline District? Then do a little research into the field locations. For looking at samples of kimberlite rock type, you'll need to visit the pipes themselves. Up in the Stateline District you should note that most of the accessible pipes on public land are under claim. There are a few that are not, but I know from personal experience that those not under claim are difficult to access. Outside of the Stateline District there are a number of well known kimberlites (and lamproites) in both Colorado and Wyoming that you can visit - Green Mountain, Iron Mountain District, Leucite Hills, Cedar Mountain, etc.. - just check on the land status before expecting to take home a bag of samples.
Due to the friability, and fast weathering rates of most kimberlites, there is usually limited surface expressions from which to sample rock mass. In some instances the rocks at the surface are not kimberlite in the truest sense, but rather rock fragments from other units penetrating by the eruptive event. Some pipes in the Stateline Distict have sandstone or carbonate float shows at the surface. All that said above, one can still collect kimberlite samples in the area without tresspassing or claim jumping - you'll just have to work for it. In fact I have a nice piece on the window sill in my office - massive kimberlite porphyry with a nice ~4mm pyrope garnet - collected from the Stateline District in the last year.
If it is kimberlite indicator minerals (KIM) that you want (pyrope garnet, chromian diopside, magnesian ilmenites, etc), the best way is to pan fluvial sediments near known (and preferably the larger) kimberlite pipes. Again, check out land/claim status, as there are a number of placer diamond claims in the Stateline, but I believe there is plenty of open ground that would likely be productive for KIM. Additionally, one can have success by sampling and washing soils directly from the kimberlite outcrop.
Hopefully that is somewhat helpful. Feel free to drop me a note if you have specific questions.
years back before my Geology Proff retired, he gave me a sample piece of" Missouri Kimberlite". But he said, it wasn't Diamond being material. this type of Kimberlit had small brown holes/tunnels in it like worm holes.
Hello Rocket! Welcome to the forums!
I have not mined any diamonds myself, however I recommend learning how to find legal ground to prospect first. There is much private property in and around the diamond fields here in Colorado. There is also active mine claims on the public lands. A good place to start is this topic:http://www.coloradoprospector.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=2638
There is lots of great information on this site to dig into to help you prepare for your first trip. I would suggest concentrating first on how to find some diamonds without getting yourself into a pickle.
Hi, y'all! I'm Rocket's partner. We have had a great time researching land records (I do this as part of my 8-5 job). We've been doing it on the State Line District for about 6 months now. Both Astrobleme and Dan Hausel (in his two bulletins, 11 & 12) have been very encouraging, suggesting we don't have to drill kimberlites to find lots of diamonds, just "pick them up off the ground"' or dig in a streambed ("there's lots of diamonds in ******* creek"). (I've seen that photo of the double handful of diamonds. Is this for real?) Logically, in creeks below kimberlite lakes and on public land seem the biggest potential for gemstone finds. We were both wondering, however, how deep you have to dig in a typical mountain stream at 7,000 - 8,000 feet to get to those choice minerals? Are we talking 3 feet or 30 feet? It also appears on the land records that there are a lot of closed claims scattered about. Does this mean they were mined out? Or did those enthusiasts from the 2008-2009 diamond rush just get burned out and discouraged? We're still planning that August (or maybe July) vacation, and are wondering what affect the 2013 floods had on the mountain streams and roadbeds? Are many still closed? It's been great reading all the posts and getting a growing education on the life of a Colorado prospector.
LOL in local streams, no. On claims... it's a case by case scenario.
When I was prospecting my Stateline Mining District targets more than a decade ago, it was during a very long drought. The lakes that cover the pipes had significantly lower water levels than normal. This allowed me to take samples to determine if KIMs were present that otherwise would have been impossible to collect.
All the natural lake water levels are well above average depths due to the recent flooding that took place in the Poudre River watershed. It will be difficult or impossible to recover proper samples from the Stateline District lakes until the water levels are again reduced. The best chance for prospecting, in my experience, is to work the streams until the lake levels have dropped.
Best of luck in the New Year!
ASTROBLEME
Hello fellow prospectors! I'm very new to the site and new to Colorado! Though I've just recently moved here, I've visited several times and have a huge interest in the state line district. I'm sure I've done much as others have, read everything about the district...all of Dan Hausel's books and papers, looked at Google Earth for hours!! I've been up to the area to peek around. I live in the Fort Collins area and I'm looking to connect with fellow prospectors. I feel like I have SO much to learn and I'm extremely passionate about rocks! I'm hoping to connect with like mind friends and have some adventures this coming season! Cheers
~Erica~
~~Igneous is Bliss~~
Hi Erica! Welcome to the forum and to Colorado! You lady, have come to the right place. I feel free to ask anything and I'm sure someone will have a good answer!
Thanks for the welcome! I would like to say one great aspect to look at when searching for diamonds in the state line district is that there has been 2-4 thousand feet of erosion since the time these kimberlite pipes were created. The pipes that have been found to be diamondiferous have had most of the pipe eroded away by the time they were even found. ie diamonds rolling around everywhere! lol... I think a good place to start when looking for placer diamonds is to study up on paleodrainages. Where did water flow during the time at creation of these pipes? Where would placer diamonds potentially be carried to millions of years ago. Could there be a concentration of them there now? Possibly!
~Igneous is Bliss~
Just 'cause no diamonds were found in the drillings doesn't mean they ain't there.
The lamproites of the Wasatch Uplift just west of me have had instances of microscopic diamonds and indicators as well as PMs and indicators for those. But while you may not make a living off of it, on occasion mineable concentrations have been located (just nothing diamond yet).
An update to conditions for prospecting/mining this spring...2015.
A colleague told me that he was talking recently with some loggers who are working in the forest at State Line Mining District. They told him about an encounter with some folks using a sluice box in a remote stream where they were cutting trees. Evidently, the miners had recovered numerous diamonds and they excitedly shared the news with the loggers.
There is plenty of water for mining or prospecting at the present time. I would encourage anyone seeking diamonds to take advantage of these prime conditions before runoff is over.
Good Luck!
ASTROBLEME
Bring on the bling!!
Mike, call me on this - the trommel may be effective for that type of work..... (edit) It can be used as a high banker too.
Recently, Bobbie Askarson from Longmont found an 8.52 carat diamond worth $1,500,000.00 at the Crater of Diamonds State Park in Arkansas. She said it looked like a quartz crystal and she only was looking for about 20 minutes before she found the stone.
Once you see a natural diamond, they are much easier to spot while prospecting. I'd bet Bobbie would be good at finding gems at the State Line Mining District here in Colorado.
Astro who priced that stone? They are living on Colorado where that stuff they smoke is legal hehehehe
A D color 8.52 stone will cut out to about 4.49 +- carats cut stone and the value is if the stone is (Internally flawless and spotless) IF LC 4.49Ct = $405 460
Below is a link to diamond price lists both cut and uncut.
Now if she is to sell this stone uncut she can expect around $150 000 to $180 000 as a rough stone the buyer will then cut it into two stones a major stone and a minor stone, the minor stone is not worth mentioning as it will be less than half a carat looking at her stone in detail. The major stone will be around 4- 4.5 CT if it is a D (Blue-white) stone and perfect price is as above but if the color drops to f, g, h, i, then the price drops by huge chunks.
The buyer then sells the stone to a wholesaler that then manufactures the stone and he in turn sells it to a Jeweler where one would go and buy it.
So the buyer will sell for $250 000 the wholesaler will sell for $350 000 (Now it is a ring pendant etc) and the jeweler will sell for $405 460 or a bit higher.
Here is the link:
http://www.ajediam.com/diamond_price_quotes.html
So the price all depends on the four C's Color Cut, Clarity and Carats.
A fancy color stone may reach that price but then it will have to be sky blue or maybe Red but both of these are very very scares like Chicken teeth!
Have fun!
DD
Hi folks,
Thank you all for your generous contribution of knowledge to one of my favorite subjects - raw diamonds!
Having been mining at the Prairie Creek Diatreme (Crater Of Diamonds State Park) the month before that beautiful 8.52 carat find was made, I feel I might be able to shed a little light on the parks unique diamond values. As the 5th largest diamond ever found in the parks history, it is an under statement to say its worth a boatload!
For those of you not familiar with the diamonds that come out of this pipe, here's a bit of info to chew on. These diamonds are considered to be 11's on the scale of hardness, they are considered to be the hardest diamonds ever found. There are a couple institutions, one in Texas, the other in northern Arkansas, that almost always outbid anyone interested in purchasing finds like this. and yes, bidding wars do occur. Remember this is the same pipe that the 40.42c Uncle Sam, the 34.25c Star of Murfreesboro, and the 27.31c Howell, came from. And also, the home of the Strawn-Wagner Diamond. Found in 1990 by Shirley Strawn and weighing 3.09 carats when found, it is known as one of the worlds most perfect diamonds, graded a perfect 0/0/0 by The American Gem Society in 1998 and graded perfect by the Gemological Institute of America, making it the first diamond ever to receive such an AGS grading. The diamond is considered a one-in-a-billion, according to Peter Yantzer, the AGS Laboratory Director.
So, I guess that's the long way around saying the diamonds from this pipe are very, very, unique. They are, in a way, like treasure from a Spanish Galleon at auction. You can't put a nice tidy 4 c's price on them, even though that is a factor, they are worth exactly what someone is willing to pay for them!
Just my opinion, hope this was helpful.
J.J.
Hello Everyone,
There is a special COLORADO DIAMOND PROSPECTING thread established on the protected side of the forum, accessible by members only, that has very detailed information and helpful advice that isn't shared on this public side of the forum.
Please consider becoming a member and join with us on further discussion of this interesting topic.
ASTROBLEME
Hello Everyone,
I was pleased to see a well written article detailing Colorado's diamond resources in the March 13, 2017 Pueblo Chieftain newspaper this morning. Dr. James Hagadorn, a scientist at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science, tells of promising new analytical techniques to gain a better understanding of the diamond crystals and the use of chemistry to decipher how Earth evolved. Perhaps this article titled “A geologist’s best friend” was also published in other papers so keep an eye out for it.
It has been many years since my last visit to the Denver Museum of Nature & Science to view the Colorado diamonds they had on display. From the photo with the article today, it appears that their collection has grown substantially. I encourage those wanting to learn more about diamonds to take a trip to the museum if they have a chance.
Sincerely,
ASTROBLEME
Hi Diamond Prospectors,
You'll need to get a subscription to read...but there is a great article in the Prospecting and Mining Journal this month (April 2017) titled Diary of A Diamond Prospector.
https://www.icmj.com/magazine/article/diary-of-a-diamond-prospector-3620/
ASTROBLEME
This just in...
Today, there was a new youtube video on where to find, identify, and recover rough diamonds. Should be helpful to new searchers.
https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=chris+ralph+where+to+find+diamonds&&view=detail&mid=63D6625C176150C312CF63D6625C176150C312CF&&FORM=VRDGAR
Good luck,
ASTROBLEME
Thanks for sharing the video with us!
Another great video has recently been posted about diamond mining. I was especially interested in the miner's comment just past the 13 minute mark.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N40zeex53BA
Enjoy,
ASTROBLEME
The Crater of Diamonds State Park in Arkansas provides public access (for a fee) to mine diamonds using hand tools. Tonko Mining Company, Inc. is an entity that continues to mine diamonds using hand tools on our claims within the boundaries of Colorado's Stateline Diamond Mining District. I do not know of any other business that is currently mining diamonds for profit in the USA. That is why today's Executive Order, published below, that prohibits diamond imports from Russia is very important to my family's long term mining interests:
Executive Order on Prohibiting Certain Imports, Exports, and New Investment with Respect to Continued Russian Federation Aggression
MARCH 11, 2022•PRESIDENTIAL ACTIONS
By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, including the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.) (IEEPA), the National Emergencies Act (50 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.), and section 301 of title 3, United States Code,
I, JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR., President of the United States of America, in order to take additional steps with respect to the national emergency declared in Executive Order 14024 of April 15, 2021, relied on for additional steps taken in Executive Order 14039 of August 20, 2021, and expanded by Executive Order 14066 of March 8, 2022, hereby order:
Section 1. (a) The following are prohibited:
(i) the importation into the United States of the following products of Russian Federation origin: fish, seafood, and preparations thereof; alcoholic beverages; non-industrial diamonds; and any other products of Russian Federation origin as may be determined by the Secretary of the Treasury, in consultation with the Secretary of State and the Secretary of Commerce;
(ii) the exportation, reexportation, sale, or supply, directly or indirectly, from the United States, or by a United States person, wherever located, of luxury goods, and any other items as may be determined by the Secretary of Commerce, in consultation with the Secretary of State and the Secretary of the Treasury, to any person located in the Russian Federation;
(iii) new investment in any sector of the Russian Federation economy as may be determined by the Secretary of the Treasury, in consultation with the Secretary of State, by a United States person, wherever located;
(iv) the exportation, reexportation, sale, or supply, directly or indirectly, from the United States, or by a United States person, wherever located, of U.S. dollar-denominated banknotes to the Government of the Russian Federation or any person located in the Russian Federation; and
(v) any approval, financing, facilitation, or guarantee by a United States person, wherever located, of a transaction by a foreign person where the transaction by that foreign person would be prohibited by this section if performed by a United States person or within the United States.
(b) The prohibitions in subsection (a) of this section apply except to the extent provided by statutes, or in regulations, orders, directives, or licenses that may be issued pursuant to this order, or pursuant to the export control authorities implemented by the Department of Commerce, and notwithstanding any contract entered into or license or permit granted prior to the date of this order.
Sec. 2. (a) Any transaction that evades or avoids, has the purpose of evading or avoiding, causes a violation of, or attempts to violate any of the prohibitions set forth in this order is prohibited.
(b) Any conspiracy formed to violate any of the prohibitions set forth in this order is prohibited.
Sec. 3. Nothing in this order shall prohibit transactions for the conduct of the official business of the Federal Government or the United Nations (including its specialized agencies, programs, funds, and related organizations) by employees, grantees, or contractors thereof.
Sec. 4. For the purposes of this order:
(a) the term “entity” means a partnership, association, trust, joint venture, corporation, group, subgroup, or other organization;
(b) the term “person” means an individual or entity;
© the term “Government of the Russian Federation” means the Government of the Russian Federation, any political subdivision, agency, or instrumentality thereof, including the Central Bank of the Russian Federation, and any person owned, controlled, or directed by, or acting for or on behalf of, the Government of the Russian Federation; and
(d) the term “United States person” means any United States citizen, lawful permanent resident, entity organized under the laws of the United States or any jurisdiction within the United States (including foreign branches), or any person in the United States.
Sec. 5. The Secretary of the Treasury and the Secretary of Commerce, in consultation with the Secretary of State, are hereby authorized to take such actions, including the promulgation of rules and regulations, and to employ all powers granted to the President by IEEPA, as may be necessary to carry out the purposes of this order. The Secretary of the Treasury and the Secretary of Commerce may, consistent with applicable law, redelegate any of these functions within the Department of the Treasury and the Department of Commerce, respectively. All executive departments and agencies of the United States shall take all appropriate measures within their authority to implement this order.
Sec. 6. (a) Nothing in this order shall be construed to impair or otherwise affect:
(i) the authority granted by law to an executive department or agency, or the head thereof; or
(ii) the functions of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget relating to budgetary, administrative, or legislative proposals.
(b) This order shall be implemented consistent with applicable law and subject to the availability of appropriations.
© This order is not intended to, and does not, create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any party against the United States, its departments, agencies, or entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any other person.
JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR.
THE WHITE HOUSE,
March 11, 2022.
Sincerely,
ASTROBLEME
The US sanctions to ban Russian diamond exports has a problematic loophole. Restrictions apply to rough diamonds - but once they have been cut and polished, the country of origin no longer matters.
G7 countries buy about 70% of the world's diamonds - so a G7 ban could have an effect, if the diamonds can be traced.
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