Diamond mining
How diamond is extracted?
Diamond mining strategies
Diamond mining course of
There are two kinds of pipe mining, particularly open-pit mining and underground mining.
Open-pit mining entails eradicating the layers of sand and rock discovered simply above the kimberlite. As soon as uncovered, the ore within the pit is damaged up by blasting. A single blast can break approx. 3,000 tonnes of ore. As soon as the ore is damaged, excavators load the ore into haul vans and transport it to a major ore crusher the place the diamond extracting course of begins. The Kimberley Massive Gap is an instance of open-pit mining.
In underground mining, miners tunnel by Earth’s crust to the kimberlite pipe. Tunnels are constructed in two ranges, one above the opposite with funnels constructed to attach the 2. Mining begins on the highest degree by blasting ore, which falls by the funnels and collects on the second tunnel. Right here, loaders gather the damaged ore and produce again to the floor for processing.
Over 1000’s of years, the kimberlite pipe that reaches the Earth’s floor is eroded and weathered by wind, rain, rivers and streams.The eroded kimberlite bears tough diamonds, that are carried downstream. The primary diamonds found in South Africa have been from alluvial deposits.
At present, industrial alluvial mining entails constructing a big wall to gather the water in a single space. Diamonds are sometimes discovered within the gravel layer, which collects beneath layers of different materials, reminiscent of mud, clay and underwater plant-life. As soon as the gravel is collected, it’s hauled to the floor and ready for processing.
Marine mining entails extracting diamonds from the seabed, lots of of meters beneath water. The earliest type of marine mining entailed shore diving, the place a swimmer would gather diamond bearing gravel from the shallow seabed. At present expertise has advanced to specialised ships that mine for diamonds deep out at sea.
Diamonds are recovered from ore in 5 phases:
Stage 1 – Crushing
As soon as the diamond bearing ore and gravel is collected, it’s transported to a major crusher. The first crusher is chargeable for decreasing the dimensions of the ore into smaller, extra manageable items or chucks measuring no bigger than 150mm. A secondary crusher, often known as a roll-crusher, may be used to scale back the dimensions of the ore even additional.
Stage 2 – Scrubbing
On this stage, the ore are scrubbed to take away unfastened extra materials and is screened. Materials smaller than 1.5mm is discarded as a result of it’s too expensive to extract diamonds from such a small piece of ore.
Stage 3 – Cyclonic separation plant
Throughout this stage the diamond bearing ore is blended with an answer of ferrosilicon powder and water, which is measured to a selected relative density. This answer is fed right into a cyclone, which tumbles the fabric and forces a separation. Supplies with a excessive density sink to the underside, which ends up in a layer of diamond wealthy focus.
Stage 4 – Restoration
Right here, the diamond wealthy focus is put by a sequence or processes involving magnetic susceptibility, X-ray luminescence and crystallographic laser fluorescence which might be calculated primarily based on the particular properties of diamonds. These processes are designed to separate the tough diamond from another heavy density supplies collected by the cyclonic separation plant. For instance, diamond’s fluorescence when uncovered to an X-ray. Sensors detect flashes of sunshine emitted by the diamond and sends a sign to a microprocessor that fires a blast of air on the diamond, which spits it into a group field.
Stage 5 – Cleaned, weighed and packaged.
The diamonds collected within the restoration course of are cleaned in an acid answer, washed, weighed and packaged in sealed containers for transport. In accordance with the Kimberley course of, these containers are sealed with a tamper resistant seal, numbered on website, and a certificates of origin is issued.
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