Before we head for the heavens in this special sky-high diamond story, let’s take a moment to celebrate that we’re still standing strong on good ‘ole terra firma. We’re survived a year of chaos with optimists noting a light at the end of the tunnel. Others warn that the light is an oncoming train. To those, I offer the safe avoidance of standing on train tracks. We have too many positive possibilities awaiting us in the new year; unexpected eye-opening moments changing “impossible” to “I’m possible.” That’s the kind of positive thinking embodying the likes of Elon Musk, who recently announced he will be mining for gold… in space. By 2022, Musk and NASA will explore a golden asteroid named 16 Psyche, packed with precious metal worth trillions of dollars. But 2022 won’t lead to a global precious metal commodity collapse—SpaceX plans to align to this precious asteroid although extracting its gold and returning to Earth isn’t even in Musk’s orbit of sight. That noted, sky mining is as real as diamonds from space. The article below shows that truth is indeed stranger than fiction.
The Sky’s the Limit
Sky mining isn’t just what the name implies—the term also speaks to reversing the global carbon flow,
physically removing and sequestering atmospheric carbon to create profitable, eco-friendly fuel, and more. This process liquifies, purifies, and when mixed with hydrogen, splits molecules of rainwater into
methane.
But isn’t methane the cancer of our cosmos? Yes, which is precisely why this refined methane is
inserted into a mill, where balls of plasma spin around at about 8,000°C or 14,432°F via chemical vapor deposition. The result is the world’s first zero-impact diamonds, according to environmentalist, multi-millionaire, and “I’m possible” guy, Dale Vince. Vince is helping to clean the air by removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere while geo-engineering diamonds.
This UK-based new-age diamond executive claims traditional diamond mining displaces
approximately 1,000 tons of rock and soil for each carat of diamond that is unearthed—the weight of
about 625 cars. Allegedly, the same natural diamond carat mining process creates 108.5 kg (239 lbs) of
atmosphere
eating CO 2 emissions. Each extracted carat is estimated to require 1,028 gallons of water, which is
enough to make 14,000 cups of tea. Yet, people weren’t quick to raise a glass to Vince’s vision, not
until they were reminded in horrific visual detail what most media outlets refuse to report.
In some cases, deep in the artisanal diamond mines of Liberia, Zimbabwe and parts of India, children
as young as six are diamond-mining slaves. Pockets of profit aren’t going to these indigenous people,
and these extremely unsafe mines remain in regions as rotten as the owners who run them. Inhumane
acts that many people thought were buried in the past are still alive but not so well.
Thus, this made Vince look toward the skies. His upward gaze resulted in Sky Diamonds, a
revolutionary, eco-friendly CVD diamond company—a man-made diamond company that removes
clouds of doubt while removing clouds of carbon.
How does Sky Diamonds power its operation? All energy is derived from wind and sun with the water
required coming from captured rain. What Sky Diamonds takes from the atmosphere it replaces with
clean air. That’s refreshingly innovative.
“Hundreds of millions of marketing dollars are spent every year to keep consumers separated from
the harsh and hurtful reality of diamond mining. We no longer have to dig for diamonds, we can mine
them from the sky,” stated the British businessman on a recent European investor call. The
conversation theme: Natural carbon dioxide extraction equals CVD diamonds and fresh air.
“Making diamonds from nothing more than the sky, from the air we breathe, is a very magical,
evocative idea,” said Vince in what most would agree is a
well-deserved self-pat on the back.
Sky Diamonds is now producing 200 carats of the carbon-negative diamonds each month. The UK
facility plans to scale up to 1,000 carats monthly within the next year. Sky Diamonds’ market focus is on
Europe and Asia for now, but to Vince, the sky’s the limit.
Earthly by Nature
Mainstream geologists have come to a newfound realization, which has these scientists brimming
about a bevy of gem-quality diamonds below our feet. Extremely deep below our feet. “Some of the
largest, most valuable fancy diamonds remain in the deepest
portions of our underworld,” noted Margo Regier, a globally celebrated Ph.D. student with the Faculty of
Science at the University of
Tokyo. “While we are not yet certain how these ‘super-deep’ diamonds started to grow, we do know
that these colorful diamonds crystallize from carbon-rich magmas, some continuing to grow to colossal
carat weights.”
Beyond gem-quality wearable art and lesser quality rocks used for medical and industrial applications,
diamonds provide a unique window into the Earth. Super-deep diamonds allow scientists to examine
the transport of carbon through the mantle.
“The vast majority of Earth’s carbon is stored in its silicate mantle, not in the atmosphere,” Professor
Alan Regier of Cleveland State University explained. “If we want to understand why our planet has
evolved into its habitable state today and how the surfaces and atmospheres of other planets may be
shaped by their interior processes, we need to better understand these variables. As we dig, we better
understand the Earth’s carbon cycle. We must understand this vast reservoir of carbon deep
underground!”
While most agree we need more carbon-based life lessons, that same group probably acknowledges
that we could be digging our own grave to get there.
A Wild Comet’s Tale
Blustering beams of fiery rock and gas known as comets played a significant role for life on Earth.
And certain comets contain diamonds.
Small, now exploded planetary bodies
became comets, which formed the gassy,
giant planets in the outer solar system. Some
comets were catapulted into the inner solar system bringing water and essential elements to Earth. To
the science-minded, life on Earth may have never sparked without this fiery cometary transport.
For the first time, scientists at the Space
Research Center at the University of
Leicester have samples of the diamond-clad comet called Wild-2. In doing so, they’ve discovered that
the old comet model, identified as a dusty ice space ball, is a mere culet in
ongoing natural diamond history.
Mexico’s Mighty Meteorite
The year: 1969. The location: Pueblo de Allende, Chihuahua, Mexico. The find: Black diamonds from
the sky. While that description is memorable, it’s incorrect. What was discovered were indeed
diamonds and the space rock that housed them was black, but that’s where the similarity ends.
The proper term for these valuable cosmic treasures is chondrite. Carbonaceous chondrites are dark
gray, nearly black and found as fragments of a long-debated source. Some say chondrites broke free
from exploding ancient planets, while others think they were formed from millions of years of layered
solar pollution.
Whichever theory you may subscribe to, we need to correct the previous data. The first documented
discovery of carbonaceous chondrites was in 1910 from a meteorite crashing in Vigarano, Italy. We just
didn’t have the media resources to telegraph the news to the world at that time. Regardless, Mexico
deserved the headlines. The now known Allende meteorite crammed thousands of tiny, specialized
carbon grains into its fragments. Those grains converted into nano-diamonds. These micro diamonds
are older than the solar system, and today, astronomers aspire they were produced by
an ancient supernova.
Black Diamonds
Carbonado, also known as black diamond, is one of the densest and hardest forms of
natural diamond. Known as an impure polycrystalline form, they are found in alluvial mines in Brazil and
Central Africa. Created by an exploding star before the formation of our solar system, these pricey
stones were
delivered to Earth by an asteroid over two billion years ago. The diamonds encased within are only
suitable for industrial use. To date, 23 pounds of over 600 fragments have been documented. Many
have found their way to eBay where bids can exceed US$600,000.
Pebble Diamonds
Meteors are instantly renamed meteorites when they soar through our atmosphere and crash land on
Earth. The largest meteorites leave their mark as enormous gullies in the ground called impact craters.
The best-preserved impact crater is Barringer Meteor Crater near Winslow, Arizona. There, more than
50,000 years ago, a meteorite weighing about 270,000 metric tons (300,000 tons) slammed into Earth
with the power of 2.5 million tons of TNT.
The impact blasted a hole 1000 meters (3,281 feet) wide and about 230 meters (750 feet) deep and
left diamonds a plenty. Most thought the forceful impact on carbon-fused land made the tiny diamonds.
That is until modern day science stepped in.
Over a hundred impact craters have been identified on Earth. The most famous perhaps is the
Chicxulub Crater, bringing us back to Mexico. The Chicxulub crater is half-submerged in the Gulf of
Mexico and is one of the largest impact craters ever discovered. Many scientists think this meteorite, which measured roughly 10 kilometers (6 miles) wide, triggered the extinction of the dinosaurs (and
most world life) around 65 million years ago. It also seeded parts of Mexico with tons of tiny diamonds
disguised in scattered black pebbles of space rock.
Collision Cash Out
This year, an Indonesian coffin maker thought he might be at the end of his days when he heard
“screams from the sky.”
What he was about to see would defy all odds. A softball-sized black rock burst through his roof and
hurtled into his bedroom. Steaming with heat and smelling of sulfur, the space stone rolled right up to
him.
The 2.1-kg rock is estimated to be 4.5 billion years old. It is classified as a CM1/2 carbonaceous
chondrite, an extremely rare type. Minutes after posting a picture on his personal Facebook page, the
young casket creator knew he could throw away his hammer. His newfound gift from God was valued
at US$1.3 million.
After verifying the photo, Jared Collins, a U.S. meteorite expert recalls that his associates were
“Lighting up my phone with crazy offers for me to jump on a plane and buy this fricking meteorite.” In
the midst of the
Covid crisis, though, he had two choices: “Buy the rock for myself and resell it or work with fellow
collectors and break it up.”
Collins ended up carrying a suitcase of cash from Indianapolis to Indonesia to find the owner. The
meteorite was sold and shipped to the U.S. for an undisclosed price, reportedly purchased by a fellow
meteorite collector in the USA.
A Russian Secret: Trillions of Carats
The massive Popigai crater in Russia was formed about 35 million years ago by an
asteroid whose impact was over 26,000 feet wide. Its collision created a wealth of impact diamonds
when an existing diamond seam was hit by this space gem of a rock. Experts estimate that this
diamond discovery could supply the natural diamond market worldwide for the next 3,000 years.
But which diamond market? Gem-quality and industrial grade diamonds are as different as night and
day. Nikolai Pokhilenko, director of the Novosibirsk Institute of Geology and Mineralogy, stated that
these diamonds are “twice as hard as normal diamonds,” making them ideal for industrial use. He
claimed that the Russian-owned Popigai crater is ten times the size of the rest of the world’s
reserves, thus holding trillions of carats.
Discovered in a scientific expedition in the 1970s, the Government of the Soviet Union decided to
keep their find a secret so as not to disturb world markets. Surely, they also
intended to not lower the value of their already-profitable Mirny diamond mine that, at its peak, was
producing ten million carats of diamonds every year.
The mine is now closed due to falling yields, although the enormous cavern remains. This area is the
second-largest excavated hole in the world. It is so large that small planes and helicopters are
forbidden from flying over it because downward air flows can spiral them into a deadly destination.
Desert Diamonds
A team of scientists found the first-ever definitive evidence of a comet striking Earth. After a series of
analyses, researchers discovered more than just a shooting star. Buried deep in the stone, named
Hypatia in honor of the ancient female astronomer and philosopher Hypatia of Alexandria, the comet
was studded with diamonds. Crash course comets are rare. This one was rarer still.
“Of course, diamonds are produced from carbon-bearing material,” commented Linda Kramers, lead
curator at the Cairo Museum. “This specific ‘diamond comet’ flew over Egypt about 28 million years
ago. It exploded in the atmosphere, heating the ancient sand to 3,630°F and generated thousands of
miles of yellow silica glass and tiny diamonds across the Sahara Desert.”
Evidence of this is in yellow silica glass from the Pleistocene era, which was used in jewelry created
for Tutankhamen, the boy-king of Egypt. An example was a carved semi-transparent yellow scarab in
the center of the legendary royal brooch found in Tutankhamen’s tomb. It long held a mystery as to the
origin of the glass. Until now.
“Comets often visit our skies, but never before has any material from a comet been found on
Earth,” noted Professor David Block of Wits University. “Perhaps all comets have silicon yellow glass or
diamonds, we just don’t know.”
The sands of time reveal other grainy diamond discoveries. A Saudi Arabian governmental group
recently found a large meteorite encased with millions of gem-quality diamond carats baked into its
structure. According to the scientists involved, the large size of diamond deposits formed inside the
lumps of rock had a curious core… like a planet. If they are right, these diamonds came from an ancient
planet that must have existed when our solar system was in formation. The reason this news is so
surprising is that it adds to a heated global debate on the birth of the universe.
Not to be outshined, another asteroid nearly slammed into the Nubian desert of northern Sudan. On 7
October 2008, the TC3
diamond-infused meteorite exploded just above ground in a dazzling display of diamond and mineral
fireworks.
Starry, Starry Night
When seeking space objects that have monetary value, staying cool is inherently meaningful. In fact,
the cooler the better. Dead stars aren’t bright; they’re dim. They aren’t hot; they’re as cold as they
come. These are white dwarf stars and, even though burning at 4,892°F, that is still 5,000 times cooler
than the center of our Earth’s sun.
Astronomers have theorized that dwarf stars lurk throughout the universe, even though they are quite
difficult to detect because they are so faint. Faint, yes; undetectable, no.
Scientists have now identified what may be the coolest white dwarf ever discovered. This stellar
corpse is so cool, its carbon has crystallized, effectively forming a diamond the size of the Earth.
“This is really remarkable!” stated David Kaplan, a professor at the University of Wisconsin Milwaukee,
part of an audience of millions listening to the now historic
National Astronomy Observatory podcast.
And if diamonds the size of the Earth can be formed from dying stars, maybe one day we might
discover a diamond planet. Well, that day came. It was August 30, 2004.
The Diamond Planet: 55 Cancri e
The diamond planet exists and is also known as Janssen, or to the deep-science community: 55
Cancri e. (That’s right, with a space before the final e.) Whatever you call it, this is one scalding hot
topic.
The planet’s surface is molten and mirrors a burning horizon. Soaring around the sun-like orb are
silicates (atoms of silicon and oxygen with potassium, sodium, or calcium) that condense into tiny, shiny
particles making this planet’s sky sparkle.
But the real bright spot on this 3,900°F exoplanet lies below its bubbling crust. There you’ll find pure,
solid, white, Type IIa diamonds. Eons from now, the entire planet may be solid diamond. But for now,
we’ll have to settle for about one-third of this cosmic mass offering miles of deep, pure, glistening—but
utterly untouchable—diamonds.
Discovered in 2004, the 55 Cancri e has yet another name—Super Earth. An odd term for any
exoplanet that is double the size and mass of Earth with no other worldly association. It has no water
and is 40 to 41 light years from Earth. So, until we create a means to travel faster than the speed of
light and
invent space machinery that won’t melt, the diamonds in this sky will remain there.
Mine Your Own Diamond
Carbon trapped deep in the upper mantle during our own planet’s formation met with molten fluids.
Millennium upon millennium of slow, pressurized momentum eventually erupts onto the Earth’s surface.
This force pushes past the trapped carbon, forging it into diamond as the magma makes its way to
ground level. The diamonds are left in Kimberlite conduits that can extend downward for miles. This
type of diamond creation is the most common Earthly method, but it hasn’t occurred for the past 400
million years.
That doesn’t mean diamonds can’t be found on, or slightly below, the ground we walk on. At least if
that ground happens to be in a part of Arkansas. During the current Covid situation, the state limits
visits to its Crater of Diamonds State Park to 1,500 people per day. And, people are still finding
diamonds.
Perhaps someone should notify the Natural Diamond Council so that they may reconsider their
“extremely rare” natural white diamond campaign.
I would like to extend my gratitude to
everyone who has been, and continues to be, so supportive of this diamond discussion
adventure in Lab Grown Magazine. Your emails and phone calls are part of the light at the end of the
tunnel. If that light turns out to be a train, then, all aboard!
The happiest of holidays to you and yours and may peace and good health surround you in 2021.
Dan Scott is a brand architect and founder of Luxe Licensing, a New York Metro-based brand and marketing agency catering to luxury and demi-fine properties. Past and current clients include Chanel, Gucci jewelry, JCKVirtual, St. Laurent, Harry Winston and up-and-coming brands. Dan welcomes conversation and may be reached at +1.201.294.3697, dans@luxelicensing.com or through www.LuxeLicensing.com ■
