Diamond
The hardest natural material on Earth and the April birthstone. Formed 100–150 km deep in the Earth's mantle and carried to the surface by ancient volcanoes. The finest colorless stones come from the historic Golconda mines of India, while Argyle in Australia was famed for rare pink diamonds.
Known origins & mines
Argyle AK1 · Australia
Closed 2020 after supplying ~90% of world pink diamonds from lamproite — not kimberlite. Argyle pinks appreciate 20%+ annually since closure…
Cullinan Premier Mine · South Africa
Source of the 3106-carat Cullinan diamond (1905), split into the Great Star of Africa in the British scepter; still produces rare blue Type …
Jwaneng Mine · Botswana
"The prince of mines" — the richest diamond mine on Earth by value, open-pit to 400 m with underground expansion underway. Botswana's diamon…
Kimberley Big Hole · South Africa
The hand-dug Big Hole yielded 2722 kg of diamonds by 1914 and birthed De Beers. Kimberlite pipes named a geological era; Type IIb blues from…
Kollur Golconda Mines · India
The only diamond source known to the ancient world: Hope Diamond, Koh-i-Noor, Orlov and Great Mogul all came from Krishna river alluvials. D…
Mirny Mine · Russia
Stalin-era gulag labor carved this Siberian funnel 525 m deep and 1200 m wide; permafrost kimberlite made Mirny the Cold War diamond weapon …
Akwatia Diamond Field · Ghana
Ghana's Birim valley alluvials, producing since the 1920s with over 70 million carats recovered.…
Chapada Diamantina · Brazil
Bahia's plateau diamond province mined since 1844 - carbonado and classic stones from Lençóis gravels that fueled Brazil's second diamond ag…
Diavik Mine · Canada
Island pits in Lac de Gras reachable only by winter ice road — Canada's ethical-certified diamonds carry maple leaf laser marks and full Kim…
Ekati Mine · Canada
Canada's first diamond mine (1998) triggered the northern staking rush; Misery pipe yields exceptional white quality prized for Canadian-mar…
Marange Fields · Zimbabwe
Alluvial fields discovered 2006 sparked chaotic rushes and documented human-rights abuses before partial Kimberley Process reinstatement — a…
MIBA Mine (Mbuji-Mayi) · DR Congo
Heart of the Kasai diamond fields since 1907 - by 1963 MIBA supplied roughly 57% of world diamonds.…
Orapa Mine · Botswana
World's second-largest diamond pit inside a game reserve — zebras graze outside the fence of a 1967-discovered crater yielding 11 million ca…
Udachnaya Pipe · Russia
Arctic circle open pit famous among collectors for octahedral diamonds and unusual halide-rich xenoliths; Alrosa's flagship beyond the polar…
Cempaka Diamond Diggings · Indonesia
Kalimantan's legendary alluvial diamond diggings near Martapura, worked for over 1,000 years - source of the 166-carat Trisakti and the Raja…
Guaniamo Diamond District · Venezuela
Venezuela's only kimberlite field, discovered 1972 in Bolivar state - eclogitic stones traded into the Guyana circuit.…
Kono Sewafe Diggings · Sierra Leone
River-dug fields whose civil-war "blood diamonds" reshaped global certification; today licensed cooperatives mine exceptional fancy yellows …
Mazaruni Diamond Fields · Guyana
Historic Guyanese diggings along the Mazaruni river worked since 1890 - fine-quality octahedral diamonds from pork-knocking pits.…