Words of Wisdom from SharLeigh

FIRE & ICE – AT ALMOST ANY COST

Many of us were fascinated by the television series “Ice Road Truckers” on the History Channel. Week after week, we watched those brave men endure the harsh Arctic climate while delivering important loads to the diamond mines. These diamond mines are in areas so remote they can only get supplies there when the waterways freeze, thereby creating “ice roads” for trucks. This sounds like a scenario for a science fiction movie, but when diamonds are discovered, nothing is impossible! Diamonds are formed under tremendous pressure and heat in the bowels of the earth known as the mantle (93 to 420 miles below the earth’s surface). Under this intense pressure and heat, pure carbon crystals form the diamond mineral. After being formed underground for billions of years, the diamonds are rapidly driven to the earth’s surface, via small volcanic eruptions, through kimberlites (diamond bearing pipes). In 1866, Erasmus Jacobs found a 21 carat sparking stone in South Africa. What followed was the creation of the Kimberley Mine – the largest excavation crater in the world. Diamonds are worth mining where they occur in an average concentration of one part in twenty million – or in common language, it would take twenty tons of rock to find one gram of diamond. It does not seem worth the effort but remember, diamonds are the hardest natural mineral known to man. The words “fire and ice” are synonymous in describing diamonds because they are cold to the touch yet look like they are on fire, as light is refracted through them. The famous saying “Diamonds are a gal’s best friend” still holds true. If you want to please your girl, buy her a piece of jewelry with a diamond in it. Therefore, with the popularity of diamonds – is ice road trucking worth the risk? Well, the ice road truckers call it “the dash for the cash” – which lasts only about 40 days each year. The answer is affirmative. As long as diamonds are a gal’s best friend, the mining companies will continue to search for those precious little gems – wherever they find them!