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Gold/Mining/Energy : Winspear Resources -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: The Fix who wrote (6209)	6/23/1998 8:04:00 PM
From: Mr Metals	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 26850

REMARKABLE FACTS: All diamonds are at least 990,000,000 years old . Many are 3,200,000,000 years old (3.2 billion years)!!! HOW DO WE KNOW THIS ? Age: from Carbon dating ??? NO!!...... C-dating only works for very young carbon. You need to use other radioactive decay schemes (e.g., uranium-lead) to date inclusions in diamonds. Inclusions used for dating are around 100 microns in diameter (0.1 mm). Diamonds are formed deep within the Earth: between 100 km and 200 km below the surface. Diamonds form under remarkable conditions! The temperatures are about 900 - 1300 C in the part of the Earth's mantle where diamonds form The pressure is between 45 - 60 kilobars (kB) 50 kB = 150 km = 90 miles below the surface 60 kB = 200 km = 120 miles below the surface Diamonds are carried to the surface by volcanic eruptions. The volcanic magma conduit is known as a kimberlite pipe or diamond pipe. We find diamonds as inclusions in the (rather ordinary looking) volcanic rock known as kimberlite. NOTE: The kimberlite magmas that carry diamonds to the surface are often much younger than the diamonds they transport (the kimberlite magma simply acts as a conveyer belt!). Diamond is made of carbon (C), yet the stable form (polymorph) of carbon at the Earth's surface is graphite. To ensure they are not converted to graphite, diamonds must be transported extremely rapidly to the Earth's surface. It is probable that kimberlite lavas carrying diamonds erupt at between 10 and 30 km/hour (Eggler, 1989). Within the last few kilometers, the eruption velocity probably increases to several hundred km/hr (supersonic!). HOW RARE ARE DIAMONDS? How many grams do you need to mine to get 5 grams of diamonds? (5g/1000 kg) @ 1000 g/kg = 5 g /1,000,000 g! BUT only 20 % are gem quality (80 % of these are sold in a 'managed selling environment') and the remainder are used for industrial purposes (this material is known as 'bort' or 'carbonado' (carbonado is finer)). CHARACTERISTICS OF DIAMOND: Hardness = 10 Crystal System = cubic This is what crystals look like before they are faceted: note their natural octahedral shape! Uncut diamonds are also found in cubic forms Diamond has four good cleavages, thus diamonds tend to cleave on impact Other diagnostic properties. Famous diamonds This is just for fun -- not required information! 1.Dresden 2.Hope ...the real thing! 3.Cullinan (Before) After 4.Sancy 5.Tiffany 6.Kohinor a-section 7.Shah 8.Nassau 9.Florentine 10.The Great Mogul 11.Orloff 12.Stern 13.Regent VALUE The 4 "C" words are used to summarize the value determining factors: 1.COLOR 2.CLARITY 3.CUT 4.CARAT WEIGHT The above links are all to remote sites. The required basic information describing what is meant by these terms is provided below. Some further comments on the '4 C's from another remote source! (1) COLOR: is determined by 'grading' visual comparison with 'knowns' or by instrumental means. consider the amount of yellow color (yellowish color decreases the value of a "colorless" stone). In order of increasing yellow content: blueish-white -> white -> silver -> yellow 'Fancy', or strongly colored stones have their own appeal and special value. Colored diamonds may beyellow, green or brown, green or shades of pink Larger pink diamonds are quite rare and currently very !! expensive. Natural blue diamonds contain the element boron (B), and this changes the conductivity of the diamonds. Natural yellow diamonds contain the element nitrogen (N). (2) CLARITY : Clarity is decreased by the presence of blemishes or flaws, scratches, nicks, 'naturals' (the original surface of an uncut stone). There are many systems of nomenclature. Some terms include: flawless or perfect imperfect very slightly imperfect very very slightly imperfect F1 VVS1 VVS2 VVS3 VS1 VS2 SI1 SI2 I1 I2 I3 flawless imperfect other descriptions: "first pique" inclusions readily recognizable at 10x mag., not significantly diminishing brilliance "second pique" larger inclusions, can be seen with naked eye "third pique" many large inclusions, diminishing brilliance Examples of clarity-reducing inclusions: inclusions cracks a crack along the pavillion (3) CUT Facets are placed so as to maximize the brilliance and fire of a stone. Remember that in the first lecture we talked about how the proportions of a faceted gemstone are determined based on the refractive index? Review the basic concepts: Refraction is dependent upon the wavelength Refractive Index (RI) is proportional to wavelength; red RI < violet RI (dispersion is due to the different amounts different wavelength are bent) Fire,which is seen as rainbows and glints of color, is due to dispersion (a consequence of the placement of faces on the crown to take advantage of the prism effect). Review the light path in a correctly cut gem! The brilliant cut (American cut) is a typical cut chosen for diamonds. There are many alternative diamond cuts A poorly cut stone is characterized by poorly chosen proportions (poor optimization of brilliance and fire or, worse still, leakage of light from the pavillion). Misplaced facets, extra facets, and problems at facet junctions are also characteristics that reduce the quality of "cut". Ranking: VERY GOOD ... GOOD .... MEDIUM ... POOR MM

To: The Fix who wrote (6209)	6/23/1998 8:47:00 PM
From: dean poets	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 26850

Hey Fix, E.C. Charters is starting to look like a Bob Bishop clone! It's one thing to ask questions, and express doubts, but this guys dragging Winspear through the mud for some apparent reason?

To: The Fix who wrote (6209)	6/23/1998 8:53:00 PM
From: L. D.	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 26850

Eric CH. usually recommends B.Bishop's picks and after Crystallex fiasco he is desperately looking for new subscribers. Since B.B. doesn't like WSP for one reason or another E.CH. takes the same view and hopes that this time around he'll be right. Eric, for once, come up with your own picks and whatever you do don't post your newsletter e-mail address at the bottom of every post you write. Most of us know where to find you , the problem is, that we will never attempt to. Mother nature is freaky and unpredictable. After WSP's latest NR, this company became one of the most exciting spec plays that this market has seen in a long time. This thread like no other has some very good people with the knowledge of diamond exploration and geology. You know as much as the next guy what lies beneath WSP's property. Bud ....take a long holiday. By the way you write, you certainly need it.