Before we get a diamond ring, diamond mining occurs !!!

Diamond mining

Diamond mining is as old as the discovery of Diamonds in India...this was approximately in the 9th Century BC.
The exact Origin of diamonds is still something of a mystery.
Its know that diamonds were created by nature more than 3 billion years ago.
The elemental forces of heat & pressure miraculously transformed carbon in to diamonds deep below the earths' surface.

Volcanic eruptions brought the volcanic mass where crystallization took place to the earths' surface, the mass then cooled in kimberlite or lampotite pipes where most diamonds are found today.

Diamonds are mined using two methods.
The primary method is pipe mining; the secondary is alluvial mining.

Pipe Mining

Magmas containing diamonds generated by volcanic activity cooled to form diamondiferous cores or "pipes" in the earth.
Pipe mining is like the process for mining coal underground.
The "blueground" (a term used to describe the earth in which diamonds are formed) is crushed and flushed with water as it moves on conveyor belts through tubes.

Once the diamond-bearing matter is washed, it is dropped onto greased belts.
Diamonds stick to the grease; other matter is washed away. The grease is then boiled away, leaving rough diamonds.

Alluvial Mining

Some diamonds were released from volcanic pipes by erosion of the earth's surface...they were then washed away down ancient riverbeds or to coastal areas.
This action created alluvial deposits from which diamonds are recovered.
To mine these deposits, huge bulldozers shovel the alluvial sands directly into washing plants for processing......this method is less costly than opencast pipe mining as it's completely mechanized.

Smaller operations also still exist in the rivers themselves where sediment is processed for rough diamonds - often using techniques that have not changed in a hundred years like panning.

Before panning, sand containing diamonds is dug up and piled up. The miners then take small amounts of the sand, place it in pans add water and swirl it all around.....the water-sand mixture is let to pour out gradually as more water is added until the diamonds which are heavier than sand remain at the bottom of the pan.
As simple as it might seem, this is a process that needs alot of patience and expertise.