[SkinnyFella]

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 18, 2012, 11:41 AM

A gigantic deposit of industrial diamonds found in a huge Siberian meteorite crater could revolutionize industry, Russian scientists say.

The Siberian branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences said the Popigai crater in eastern Siberia contains “many trillions of carats” of so-called “impact diamonds” — good for technological purposes, not for jewelry, and far exceeding the currently known global deposits of conventional diamonds.

Nikolai Pokhilenko, the head of the Geological and Mineralogical Institute in Novosibirsk, told RIA Novosti news agency Monday that the diamonds include other molecular forms of carbon. They could be twice as hard as conventional diamonds and therefore have superlative industrial qualities.
He said the minerals could lead to a “revolution” in various industries. “But they can’t upset a diamond market because it is shaped by diamonds for jewelry purposes.”

The deposit was discovered by Soviet scientists in the 1970s, but it was left unexplored as the Soviet leadership opted for producing synthetic diamonds for industrial use. The deposit remained classified until after the Soviet collapse.

Pokhilenko said his institute is planning to send an expedition to the crater in cooperation with Russia’s state-controlled diamond mining company Alrosa.


Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/worl...#ixzz26sCiEcbv

[zombie-rot420]

That's cool.

[kellyhound]

cool.
nice crater btw.

[Sharon]

How cool

[Mizz_Russia]