Another planet made of diamonds? It's more likely than you think!

In December 2010, the Israel Diamond Portal Blog wrote about a diamond-studded celestial body known as WASP-12b that Princeton University researchers determined to have a core of diamonds and graphite.

Almost prophetically, head researcher Nikku Madhusudhan said at the time that if other planets could be found that contain more carbon than oxygen and have solid surfaces, their ordinary rock would be made of diamonds and graphite rather than silicon and oxygen compounds.

Now, an international team of scientists led by Australia's Prof. Matthew Bailes has identified an entire planet made out of diamond. The planet rotates a pulsar that bears the prosaic name PSR J1719-1438.

The scientists studying the new diamond planet estimate that its diameter is five times that of the Earth and its mass is slightly heavier than Jupiter.

The proximity of the diamond planet to its pulsar has also led the team to surmise that the planet is actually a white dwarf – a star that has lost its outer layers and 99.9 percent of its original mass.

New York, New York is without a doubt one of the most important diamond trading hubs in the world. And the heart of the New York diamond industry is the famed 47th Street, which is due for a paradigm change when the International Gem Tower opens for business and many of the city's diamond and jewelry dealers relocate into the state-of-the-art facility.

But now an enterprising gemstone designer is adding yet another facet to the local diamond industry – literally mining the sidewalks and streets for scraps of diamonds and precious metals that might have dropped by the wayside.

The New York Post devoted a video feature to Raffi Stephanian, who makes spare cash by literally scraping through the dirt and mud of the streets and gathering up diamond and ruby chips and bits of platinum and gold.

Stephanian told the Post that in one week, he'd panned nearly $850 worth of gold form the 47th Street sidewalks. The urban prospector said that what was in the streets was left behind by the industry and was "close to a mother lode."

Moreover, since the chips of gemstones and precious metals are already processed, they are worth more than the same minerals in their rough form.

Interviewed by WBCS 880, Stephanian graciously said that he wasn't self-centered and wouldn't mind if his recent wave of publicity brought others into the field of urban diamond prospecting.

In fact, the gemstone designer said, he might be about to trigger a "new gold rush."

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The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, more popularly known as William and Kate, are scheduled to tour Canada from June 30 to July 8 and will be stopping off in Yellowknife, known as the Diamond Capital of North America. Will the royal newlyweds don hard hats and explore the mines? Or will they be presented with gifts of fine Canadian diamonds? 

Yellowknife is the capital of the country's Northwest Territories province, which is home to the most prolific diamond mine in North America – BHP Billiton's Ekati mine, which produces about 3% of the world's rough diamonds by volume and about 5% by value. BHP Billiton has signed a long-term contract to supply rough diamonds to the Corona Jewellery Company for its Maple Leaf Diamonds brand.

Hary Winston's Diavik Diamond Mine, which is expected to produce 6.9 million carats of diamonds by the end of 2011, is also located in the NWT – on an island in the province's Lac de Gras.

Diamond mining giant De Beers is also active in the NWT. De Beers owns the Snap Lake diamond mine and has partnered with Mountain Province Diamonds to develop the Gahcho Kue diamond project 80 km. southeast of Snap Lake.

In the relatively short time since the early 1990s, Canada has become a diamond producing powerhouse. The 2009 Kimberley Process Annual Global Survey cited Canada as the fifth-largest producer of rough diamonds in the world by volume (10.9 million carats) and the second-largest producer by value ($1.47 billion).

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