It seems that British-Australian mining giant Rio Tinto is eying the world’s second largest diamond market – China. 

Rio Tinto will be opening a Hong Kong office, which will join Rio Tinto’s diamonds sales and marketing branches in Belgium, India and the US. The move aims to support the marketing of all rough diamonds from Rio Tinto’s mines.

Rita Maltez has been named head of the Chinese operation. Maltez has been with Rio Tinto since 1999, and has been involved in the development of the company’s emerging markets strategy for diamonds.

“This is a strategic decision that reflects Rio Tinto’s long term commitment to the diamond industry and the important role that China will play in this future. We look forward to fostering new relationships as China’s development continues,” Jean-Marc Lieberherr, the diamond miner’s general manager of diamonds sales and marketing, said.

Rio Tinto stated that the new Hong Kong office will facilitate the development of a market in China for its diamond productions, and customers’ activities.

The astronomical growth China has experienced in the last decade, including during the global financial crisis, has created a new nation of consumption, which is nearing western proportions. With 1.3 billion and counting, the highest number of young millionaires and new companies opening daily, it’s no surprise that many international companies – from everyday fashions to luxury goods – are looking to expand into China.

One of the secrets to succeeding in China is working with local experts who understand the Chinese market, since penetrating it is not as easy in getting into the more developed, western markets. The only exception seems to be Google.

Google’s entry to China was made somewhat late in the game and only after it seemingly took over most of the world. Nevertheless, Google has recently claimed that the Chinese authorities hacked into users’ email accounts in an attempt to follow human rights activists.  Beijing denied any involvement, but Google has already announced that it was reconsidering its Chinese venture. Will Google be the first company to pull out of the Chinese market? 

A delegation from the Israel Diamond Institute is scheduled to meet with representatives of the Chinese diamond industry, as part of the HKTDC Hong Kong International Jewellery Show, set for March.

Two months ago, a Chinese diamond industry delegation visited Israel for a series of meetings meant to cement the cooperation between the Israeli and Chinese diamond industries. The future, they said following the meetings, is looking bright. 

Ever looked up into the sky on a clear night, see a shooting star and think to yourself it resembled a trail of falling diamonds? Well you might not bee too far off, because apparently there are diamonds up there and some of them are falling to earth.

Space diamond, by: morningcupojoe.com

Only a few weeks ago we were told that scientists can now prove that there are diamond glaciers floating around on the oceans of Neptune and Uranus, and today we learned that two very special diamonds were found hiding inside the Havero meteorite that crashed to Earth in 1971.

But the meteorite diamonds are unlike the diamonds found on Earth. Which, I guess, makes sense, since if you're going to come crashing down through the atmosphere, you aught to be packing a little extra punch. And these “alien diamond,” according to the scientists researching them do. They are ultra-hard – much harder than their earthbound kin. 

Could be nice to get some luxury gems over the city, don't you think?

According to the researchers, the super-hard diamond duo, which in fact are two small carbon crystals, were created when the graphite in the meteorite experienced the intense heat and pressure of entering the Earth’s atmosphere and the impact of crashing into the ground.

Nevertheless, and much like in the case of nearly any big guy nicknamed “tiny,” finding out exactly how tough the meteorite diamonds are is impossible at this point; since they're too small to test for precise hardness.

So how can the scientists be so sure that these diamonds really are that hard? Apparently, the researchers found them by using a diamond paste to polish a slice of the meteorite. The crystals were raised more than 10µm above the polished surface, which meant they were harder than the diamonds in the polishing paste. In fact, the little-big guys were unaffected when polished in every direction.

The scientists then applied an array of mineralogical instruments to the diamonds, including microscopy, spectroscopy and energy-dispersive X-rays among others, which allowed them to identify them as representing two new carbon polymorphs or diamond polytypes.

Photo Credit: FilanFilan

It is common knowledge that diamonds are one of the hardest materials found on the planet Earth – so strong, in fact, they can easily cut through glass and steel. But what happens to diamonds when they are exposed to extreme conditions? Well, apparently, when the going gets tough – diamonds get tougher.

A recent study by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory scientists found that diamonds become even harder when exposed to rapid compression.

Using the Janus and Omega lasers to send shockwaves through a diamond, the team found that the gem was able to sustain almost a million times the atmospheric pressure before being crushed.

The research bears significant implications for the use of diamonds in various technologies, and researchers claim it could affect fusion-energy experiments.
 

In nature, diamonds are formed at a high-pressure, high-temperature environment, which exists at depths of 87-120 miles in the Earth's mantle.

But even a diamond has its limits: when the researchers sent laser shockwaves  between one million and 10 million atmospheres of pressure through the stone, the diamond was crushed in a nanosecond –  one billionth of a second.

This was the second study to explore the behavior of diamonds under extreme conditions: researchers have recently tested diamonds' reaction to extreme temperatures, concluding they mimic the behavior of water – i.e. freeze – in conditions which can be found in outer space.

The experiment led to the conclusion that solid diamond icebergs may be floating on the oceans of Neptune and Uranus. The revelation, according to the study,may help explain the nature of Uranus and Neptune's magnetic fields, which – unlike their earthly counterparts – do not match up with the their geographic poles.

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