Monthly Archives: October 2016

Minerals

Industrial Uses of Diamonds

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pollo_synthetic_diamond Diamonds are the most popular and most beautiful gemstones used by people all over in the world to show their love for someone. You may have seen many women wearing these rings and bragging about them in their social circles. However, this famous gemstone also has some abrasive uses on an industrial level. Having been given a rating of 10 on the Mohs Scale, diamonds have the highest level of hardness, durability and strength. Thus, they have a lot of industrial applications.

Let’s have a look at how diamonds are used as abrasives for industrial use.   

Industrial Diamonds

While many of you may be wearing it in the form of rings or necklaces, diamonds also serve industrial purposes. However, the appearance of industrial diamonds is unlike the one you wear. They are small diamonds which are less than a millimeter in size. They are yellowish and black in color, have a lot of incisions and have no cuts at all. The four C’s which are used to determine the quality of diamond; clarity, carat, color and cut, do not apply on industrial diamonds because they are not designed keeping in mind these considerations. They are only used by industrialists for rough work because of their hardness, strength and durability.

Use of Diamonds in Industries

Diamond Drill Bit

Diamonds are used in drill bits to drill through hard surfaces, such as oil wells. Each one of them has small pieces of diamond at the tip. As the bit turns, these cuts turn their way. A grinding wheel, or a drill bit, is used for the purpose of grinding, drilling and cutting. After grinding, it forms a powder which is made into diamond paste and is later used for fine grinding or polishing.

Diamond Speaker Domes

Industrialists also use diamonds in high quality of speakers. Since a diamond is a very stiff material, it can be made into a thin dome and vibrates rapidly without affecting the sound quality.

Diamond Windows

Made from diamond membranes, diamond windows are used in x-ray machines, lasers and vacuum chambers. These diamond windows are resistant to heat and are very durable. Also, they are transparent in nature and are not prone to abrasion.

Heat Sinks

These are the sinks that transmit or absorb excess heat. As diamond is a natural mineral, it has the highest level of thermal conductivity than any other material found on earth. It is used to absorb heat away to protect heat-sensitive parts from being damaged. Thus, they have multiple applications in the microelectronics industry.

There is a very large market for the industrial use of diamonds. Also, there are proper specimens for industrialists to learn about the different purposes that diamonds can be used for. From yellowish to blackish shades, the industry diamonds are not colorless, have a very rough structure and cannot be used for making jewelry; hence, they are only used for industrial work and needs.

Now that you know about the use of diamonds other than that they are used in making jewelry, we hope you find this article interesting. Do come back and check with us again for more interesting information on minerals!

Minerals

Make a Collection of the Rarest Minerals

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collection of the rarest mineralsWhat would be the dream of a mineral collector? Probably, to collect the rarest of minerals and gems. There are gems and other minerals that nature hides for centuries before they take a form that makes them so exquisite and valuable. It is this century-long process of transition and development that makes them priceless. There are minerals that are far more rare and precious than diamonds; what we consider to be the finest gem of all.

Though diamonds are considered to be girl’s best friend, there are many rare minerals that have the potential to give this clichéd concept a run for its money. Minerals, like Sardinian ichnusaite and cobaltomenite, are found in only a few locations over the entire planet. Sardinian ichnusaite is found only in Congo, Bolivia, Utah, and Argentina, while cobaltomenite has an overall supply that can be fit in a shot glass. Painite is the world’s rarest gemstone mineral according to Guinness Book of World Records. Only 25 specimens of these gemstone have been found till date, from the time of its discovery in the 1950s.

On the whole, 5,000 minerals have been catalogued out of which, only 100 form 99% of the Earth’s crust. The remaining work as pixie dust that makes Earth’s near surface environment so diverse. They are scattered at different locations across the globe.

Many of these rare minerals are very sensitive. Several of them can’t stand the sunlight and decompose if exposed to it. Others can’t stand the temperature and evaporate, melt, or dehydrate. Due to this reason, their mining, extraction, and preservation is quite a challenge. However, the presence of these minerals also indicates the extreme atmosphere and climate found in the Earth’s crust. One such example is that of Fingerite, which is found near the summit of the Izalco Volcano in El Salvador. It is so sensitive to the normal atmospheric conditions and changes that it washes away every time it rains.

What makes them so rare? If you compare the supply of minerals that are considered to be rare, diamond for instance, to the ones that are actually rare, like Painite, you will realize that the criteria of rarity is quite different than what we generally assume. According to scientist, Dr. Hazen, what actually make a mineral rare are 4 principles:

  • The temperature and pressure at which they mineralize is quite specific and extreme.
  • They are found far below the Earth’s surface and its outer crust.
  • The ambience is far more extreme, so much so that it would not survive in the otherwise normal ambient conditions.
  • There is a sample bias in cases.

Though scientists are carrying out further research to create artificial environments for the preservation of such minerals, these minerals and gemstones are, at the moment, far beyond the reach of any common mineral collector. That being said, it still can be a mesmerizing dream for many.