7000 ct diamond unearthed in SA?

[JohnQuixote]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/6966540.stm

>

(BBC photo)

 

[Pandora II]

I was about to post that...

So who thinks it''s real?

 

[strmrdr]

It its real id want a Geiger counter before I got close too it.

 

[CaptAubrey]

I''m skeptical. Something about that photo looks wrong, though it could just be the photography.

-It looks glassy
-The crystal form is far too uniform for a stone that size. All the very large (200+ ct) pieces of rough that I''ve seen have been fragments
-The green color is highly suspect, because it appears to be uniform. Green colored rough is almost always in the form of a skin, because the natural radiation that causes most natural green diamonds cannot penetrate more than 1-2 mm into the stone. Diamonds with a homogenous green bodycolor are extremely rare--the largest known cut diamond of that sort is the Dresden Green, which is a whopping 41 ct. So that plus 7000 ct would be incredible.

Bottom line, I think this is a hoax.

 

[JohnQuixote]

Date: 8/28/2007 11:27:36 AM
Author: CaptAubrey
I''m skeptical. Something about that photo looks wrong, though it could just be the photography.

-It looks glassy
-The crystal form is far too uniform for a stone that size. All the very large (200+ ct) pieces of rough that I''ve seen have been fragments
-The green color is highly suspect, because it appears to be uniform. Green colored rough is almost always in the form of a skin, because the natural radiation that causes most natural green diamonds cannot penetrate more than 1-2 mm into the stone. Diamonds with a homogenous green bodycolor are extremely rare--the largest known cut diamond of that sort is the Dresden Green, which is a whopping 41 ct. So that plus 7000 ct would be incredible.

Bottom line, I think this is a hoax.

I was wondering if you''d report to the fo''c''sle on this one, Captain. I was reminded of our conversation about a month ago when I saw the photo.

 

[partgypsy]

I''m voting it''s either fake, or an alien artifact (crystal used in manuevering chassis of alien spacecraft)

 

[stebbo]

Really brings home how light diamonds are, 70 grams for the size of a coconut! I''d guess a real coconut would be 10 times heavier.

 

[stebbo]

I'm just visualizing the poor guy who found it trying to hide it in his mouth...

 

[JohnQuixote]

Date: 8/28/2007 11:56:07 AM
Author: part gypsy
I''m voting it''s either fake, or an alien artifact (crystal used in manuevering chassis of alien spacecraft)

Kryptonite?

Stebbo, maybe a swallow carried it.

 

[CaptAubrey]

Date: 8/28/2007 11:35:37 AM
Author: JohnQuixote

I was wondering if you''d report to the fo''c''sle on this one, Captain. I was reminded of our conversation about a month ago when I saw the photo.

I came scurrying over here to post about it as soon as I saw the report, but you beat me to it.

There is a lot of small-scale prospecting going on in South Africa, and these small miners ultimately need a senior partner (a large mining company with the wherewithal to develop a mine) to come on board at some point. Getting their attention isn''t always easy unless you''ve got results in hand. I suspect this is just a publicity stunt.

 

[CaptAubrey]

Date: 8/28/2007 12:11:53 PM
Author: JohnQuixote

Date: 8/28/2007 11:56:07 AM
Author: part gypsy
I''m voting it''s either fake, or an alien artifact (crystal used in manuevering chassis of alien spacecraft)

Kryptonite?

Stebbo, maybe a swallow carried it.

Wrong aliens.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dilithium_%28Star_Trek%29

 

[Paul-Antwerp]

I am extremely skeptical about this ''find''.

Why? Well, when I first read about it this morning, the article mentioned a certain Fred Cuellar as one of the sources of the information, indicating that every time a bigger stone surfaces, the owner immediately calls Fred, so that he is in the loop. This was in an article in the Guardian (U.K.).

Knowing Fred Cuellar, I highly doubt the whole story.

Live long,

 

[CaptAubrey]

Here''s the report mentioning Fred:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/southafrica/story/0,,2157446,00.html

The relevant bits:

Fred Cuellar, the founder of Diamond Cutters International and author of How to Buy a Diamond, said he first heard about the find a few days ago. "I get a phone call when any rare stone around the world is found and when I heard about this one it was stunning news.

"It caught everybody in the diamond industry offside. There will be a lot of mad bidding from a lot of private individuals as to who is going to buy this stone."

...

Mr Cuellar said the most important information about the latest find was yet to be forthcoming, including whether it is colourless. "The reported size of the stone is accurate, but there are all these other factors we still don''t know and what matters now is how wide, how clear and how well cut it will be.

"Will this diamond rank above the best quality diamonds in the world? I can tell you right now, no. But in as far as the list of the largest diamonds ever found in the world goes, would it make that list? Yes it would."

He said the first seven people who looked at the stone thought it was industrial grade, but that view has changed and it now appears to be a stone that will be cut into a piece of jewellery.

I''m 100% certain now that this is a fish story.

 

[risingsun]

Date: 8/28/2007 12:11:53 PM
Author: JohnQuixote

Date: 8/28/2007 11:56:07 AM
Author: part gypsy
I''m voting it''s either fake, or an alien artifact (crystal used in manuevering chassis of alien spacecraft)

Kryptonite?

Stebbo, maybe a swallow carried it.

Yes, but was a European or African swallow?

 

[partgypsy]

African swallow maybe, definitely not an european swallow.

 

[risingsun]

Wait a minute! Supposing two swallows carried it together?

 

[denverappraiser]

Every time someone mines a diamond over 3,107 carats I get a call too. My call hasn’t come in yet.

Neil Beaty
GG(GIA) ICGA(AGS) NAJA
Professional Jewelry Appraisals in Denver

 

[Regular Guy]

Date: 8/28/2007 12:11:53 PM
Author: JohnQuixote

Date: 8/28/2007 11:56:07 AM
Author: part gypsy
I''m voting it''s either fake, or an alien artifact (crystal used in manuevering chassis of alien spacecraft)

Kryptonite?

Hmmmm........

 

[Garry H (Cut Nut)]

very large diamonds are by nature type II and grow without any good crystal form. If Fred really knew his stuff he would have done a better PR job.

 

[stebbo]

I just happen to have a copy of the kryptonite handbook - I've got a feeling Fred's behind it..

 

[Garry H (Cut Nut)]

Also it is pretty easy to get a more accurate ct wt than "approx 7,000cts"

The gree would need to come from radiation which would almost certainly be more localized and would vary from dark brown to light green.

It can easily be a flourite crystal

 

[risingsun]

Date: 8/28/2007 3:11:43 PM
Author: part gypsy
African swallow maybe, definitely not an european swallow.

No more Python fans onboard?

 

[WorkingHardforSmallRewards]

VILLAGER #1: We have found a diamond. May we sell it?
CROWD: Sell! Burn! Sell! Sell!
BEDEVERE: How do you know it is a diamond?
VILLAGER #2: it looks like one.
CROWD: Right! Yeah! Yeah!
BEDEVERE: Bring it forward.
WITCH: I'm not a diamond. I'm not a diamond.
BEDEVERE: Uh, but you are dressed as one.
WITCH: They dressed me up like this.
CROWD: Augh, we didn't! We didn't...
WITCH: And this isn't my color. It's a false one.
BEDEVERE: Well?
VILLAGER #1: Well, we did do the color.
BEDEVERE: The color?
VILLAGER #1: And the picture, but it is real!
VILLAGER #2: Yeah!
CROWD: We sell it! Right! Yeaaah! Yeaah!
BEDEVERE: Did you make it look like this?
VILLAGER #1: No!
VILLAGER #2 and 3: No. No.
VILLAGER #2: No.
VILLAGER #1: No.
VILLAGERS #2 and #3: No.
VILLAGER #1: Yes.
VILLAGER #2: Yes.
VILLAGER #1: Yes. Yeah, a bit.
VILLAGER #3: A bit
VILLAGERS #1 and #2: A bit.
VILLAGER #3: A bit

 

[BigDiamonds]

Wow...only on PS could a story be shot down so quickly!

They never had a chance!

 

[WorkingHardforSmallRewards]

VILLAGER #1: We found it in the mine.
RANDOM: [cough]
BEDEVERE: What makes you think it is a diamond?
VILLAGER #3: Well, it turned me into a newt.
BEDEVERE: A newt?
VILLAGER #3: I got better.
VILLAGER #2: Sell it anyway!
VILLAGER #1: Burn!
BEDEVERE: Quiet! Quiet! Quiet! Quiet! There are ways of telling whether it is a diamond.
VILLAGER #1: Are there?
VILLAGER #2: Ah?
VILLAGER #1: What are they?
CROWD: Tell us! Tell us!...
BEDEVERE: Tell me. What can you do with diamonds?
VILLAGER #2: Burn!
VILLAGER #1: Burn!
CROWD: Burn! Burn them up! Burn!...
BEDEVERE: And what can you burn apart from diamonds?
VILLAGER #1: More diamonds!
VILLAGER #3: Shh!
VILLAGER #2: Wood!
BEDEVERE: So, why do diamonds burn?
[pause]
VILLAGER #3: B--... 'cause they're made of... wood?
BEDEVERE: Good! Heh heh.
CROWD: Oh, yeah. Oh.
BEDEVERE: So, how do we tell whether it is made of wood?
VILLAGER #1: Build a bridge out of it.
BEDEVERE: Ah, but can you not also make bridges out of stone?
VILLAGER #1: Oh, yeah.
RANDOM: Oh, yeah. True. Uhh...
BEDEVERE: This diamond is almost the size of...?
VILLAGER #2: Dust.
VILLAGER #3: A cherry blossom.
VILLAGER #2: A Coconut!
BEDEVERE: Very good! And do coconuts sink in water?
VILLAGER #1: No. No.
VILLAGER #2: No, it floats! It floats!
VILLAGER #1: Throw it into the pond!
CROWD: The pond! Throw it into the pond!
BEDEVERE: What also floats in water?
VILLAGER #1: Bread!
VILLAGER #2: Apples!
VILLAGER #3: Uh, very small rocks!
VILLAGER #1: Cider!
VILLAGER #2: Uh, gra-- gravy!
VILLAGER #1: Cherries!
VILLAGER #2: Mud!
VILLAGER #3: Uh, churches! Churches!
VILLAGER #2: Lead! Lead!


ARTHUR: A duck!

BEDEVERE: Exactly. So, logically...
VILLAGER #1: If... it... weighs... the same as a duck,... it's made of wood.
BEDEVERE: And therefore?
VILLAGER #2: A diamond!

 

[WorkingHardforSmallRewards]

anyway, not the best, but im a big Monty Python fan too

I hope this diamond is real though, that would be pretty exciting!

 

[risingsun]

Date: 8/28/2007 11:42:37 PM
Author: WorkingHardforSmallRewards
anyway, not the best, but im a big Monty Python fan too

I hope this diamond is real though, that would be pretty exciting!

Thank you for carrying on in true Python style--all of which was started by John Q., with the reference to the swallows

I can't leave a Python opening untouched....You did well, Brave Sir WorkingHard. You have been awarded with a coconut. Now, bring me a shrubbery

 

[JohnQuixote]

"Ni!"

 

[risingsun]

Date: 8/29/2007 12:00:04 AM
Author: JohnQuixote
''Ni!''

No! Not the Knights who say "Ni"! [runs away holding hands over ears......]

 

[Regular Guy]

guys...let''s get real.

It''s not a diamond at all...

it''s just a very cleverly disguised rabbit.