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 Andy. Used to dig myself between Riverton pleasure resort and Windserton on place called Tipperary. Worked for DeBeers Geology back in the 70's I am at present in North Dakota working on the oilfields but is busy building a small prospecting plant and will take it to stateline area in Wyoming to hunt some diamonds there. Believe me there is plenty. Realy surprised that everybody is so focussed on hunting gold and overlook the better stuff."DIAMONDS" Man nothing like flipping that screen and there lies a 10ct shiny as hell. Anyways, let us know when you come over. Sure would like to meet up with you sometime. What kind of washplant are you bringing over from SA. We may even know each other. Remember Sam Cloete? Anyways look forward to hearing from you. FS

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, I appreciate all the educational info on the CP site. Could anyone fill in the gap between finding the diamonds and putting the money in the bank? I really need an expert in the business to guide me through the process and who to do business with. I'm planning a prospecting trip in August and hope to have all the methods and contacts worked out ahead of time so maybe, just maybe, the vacation will pay for itself. For example, who does one sell industrial diamonds to and how quick is the process? How would one do the same with gem quality stones and how is their value determined? I would love to start a career in placer diamond mining, just two old ladies with hand tools. Rocket

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:How Do I Avoid Claim Jumping?

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.

Hi Somethin' Else! Welcome to the CP forums!


Even the large operations in the kimberlite pipes have to process tons of material to find enough diamonds to be profitable. I would say it is possible to find some on the ground and in the right streams, however you may have to move lots of material to find one.


It always depends on the certain geological spot where the gemstones have concentrated. When digging in streams for float material, bedrock can be 1' down or over 30 ft. down. I have never dug a hole deeper than 4.5 feet below water line cause that's as deep as my chest waiters can go(digging for gold).

It can be that the material was depleted or it can be that it was unprofitable for the current conditions. I know many gold mines in Colorado didn't close because they were mined out, they just cost more to extract than they can cover in value.

Thanks Mike! You've been most helpful. I read a lot of comments about needing big machinery to process enough dirt to make it profitable, and i can see why you'd have to -- the cost of operating all that machinery (and paying the mortgages on it). But how about the small shovel, trommel, sluice and gold pan operation? Do y'all find enough gold in a day's panning to pay for your outing? Or enough to make it a good income source?

LOL in local streams, no. On claims... it's a case by case scenario.

Someone has watched too much Gold Rush on Discovery.

Being a landman in O&G country (which is what I surmise you do based on previous comments) will be extremely more lucrative than any small scale diamond operations in the Stateline District.

Also, go back and do some more homework, as potentially productive ground in the district is much more tied up than you have implied with your comments. Note that there are alot of private roads that end in or pass through public lands for which you will have to negotiate access, and from what I hear, not everyone is so accommodating up there these days.

Your welcome! I have been searching for profitable gold for a few years now. I have not found that spot...... yet. I have found other minerals that may prove profitable. I rock hounded for fun for about a decade before going for profits. Some folk's are still finding profitable gold and other minerals in Colorado and making a living at it. Whenever I take a first trip to an area I expect to not find much to show but I usually find something to learn from. Most likely you will find some garnets or other minerals which can lead you to possible diamonds in the gravel. If you choose the right spot to try there is a good chance of finding a few low grade diamonds. Finding a quality diamond that can pay for your trip is possible but the odds are not in your favor. Treasure hunting is like that. Even when I am digging on my claim where I know there is good minerals all over the place I sometimes come home empty handed from a trip. I don't mean to discourage you at all. I hope you can find some diamonds. I would love to see pictures of any finds you do make even if they are just garnets. I have been thinking of trying some streams in the diamond fields but it may take lots of work and testing to find a good one. If I make a trip to the diamond fields I will post results here.

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~

Hello Erica! Welcome!
I think old water flows and glaciers could have moved many diamonds around and deposited them in seemingly unlikely places around the source.

Hi Somethin' Else! When prospecting the streams for diamonds, think like you would for looking for gold. Diamonds are heavier than quartz and granite derivatives, and they will settle out (deposit) just like gold, but since they are not as heavy as gold, they may travel further. I tried this thinking and found a "honey hole" around Labor Day last year. For just a few hours work, I pulled out 42 diamonds, from Roosevelt National Forest area. Most of the diamonds I found, were in the 3 5gal buckets I filled to take home and pan later. They came from a creek where it exited out of a canyon into a small flat valley, it was where the stream velocity suddenly diminished that the diamonds were deposited in a small sandbar. I am going back there in July and spend a few days finding more. Attaching a picture of a .15ct sparkler from that batch.

And astrobleme is right on with his aadvice... Just a note to a post from 2008... another way to ffind diamond possible areas, is to use geological maps and look for ring dike complexes. Stateline district is one example, with the Virginia Dale ring complex. Diamond pipes occur within and adjacent to where fault lines cross these ring faults. The kansas kimberlite are associated with a similar structure...but no diamonds found. Another example is the ring dike complex located just west of the Cumberland Gap on the Kentucky Viirginia border.. One of the known kimberlite locations in Kentucky is on a fault that intersects ne edge of that ring faults. Diamond exploration there found no diamonds, but if you interpolate history of streams,, which now flow paralel to the mountain folds, in the past, they cut through the cumberland gap... which would make that kimberlite pipe, now very eroded, the likely source of several diamonds found in Virginia. One was found on a hillside just above a creek that drained from the cumberland gap area. Ditto, for the one found in Richmond, above a river that traces its source back to the Cumberland Gap area. Just think outside the box using current geology knowledge.

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).

Addendum to that .15ct sparkler... if you look close, on left side from top to bottom you will see cleavage line visible. There are 2 more cleavage lines visible if you look closely. And, yes, diamonds can have conchoidal fracture if broken under stress, but rarely happens, but this one exhibits one such fracture. Wonder what big diamond this chip broke off of.

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

Thanks for the tip ASTROBLEME! I may have to make a trip up there soon.

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

Hello DD,

That diamond price link is great information for common stones. I'm not sure who valued the Crater of Diamonds find but I'm certain that the provenience increases the value substantially.

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.

Mining Journal

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.

Chris Ralph, Professional Prospector

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.

Real Diamond Mining April 2021

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.

Click to view attachment

ASTROBLEME