The Diamond Cutting in India
Dr. Jayshree Panjikar, FGA, FFIG, FGS, D.Gem.G.,Certified Diamond Grader, HRD
ABSTRACT
The famous legendary diamonds are spread out in all corners of the globe -the
“Kohinoor” diamond is in the British Crown Jewels in England, the blue coloured “Hope”
diamond is in the Smithsonian Institute Museum in the United States of America, the
“Regent” and the “Sancy” are in the Apollo Galerie of Louvre Museum in France, the
“Orloff” is in Russia, the “Dresden Green” is in Germany, the “Darya-i-noor” is in Persia,
the “Florentine” is in Austria, All these famous diamonds came from the old Indian
mines.
Indian diamond industry started more than 3500 years ago. Mythological and religious
idols dating back thousands of years are shown bedecked with diamond jewellery.
Diamond is known in the Sanskrit language as “Vajra”. Four thousand year old, Vedic
literature gives accurate detailed description of a “Vajra” as a perfect octahedron.
It would be of great gemmological significance to know from which mines the famous
diamonds came. Their diverse colours, their large awesome sizes and the fact they were
found in large quantities, makes it an interesting study. The ancient Indian diamond
mines were situated in three main groups, Southern, Northern and Eastern groups.
At one time it is said, this diamond-bearing region of the southern group known in the
olden days, as “Rayalseema”, was flooded with diamonds of big sizes. Reliable evidence
is available of a flourishing diamond trade and industry in this region. Later, when the
British ruled India, many of these mines were under the Golconda Diamond Mining Co, a
British company with its Head Office in Madras. Hence most of the diamonds were said
to come from Golconda. Geographically this diamond-bearing region lies in a large area
between 13°20’N latitude to 17°0’N latitude and 77°47’E longitude to 85°15’E longitude
which comprises about 336 km (210 miles) long and 152 km (95 miles) wide.
This paper intends to the trace the evolution of the diamond industry dating from 4th
Century B.C. to the present day. Detailed descriptions of some 23 diamond-bearing
mines along with maps are provided.
INTRODUCTION
Alluvial diamonds were known in India as early as 800BC (Bruton, 1978). The diamonds
were found in compact sandstones and conglomerates and in the sands and gravels of
river - beds and terraces. Indian diamonds were exported through the port of
Alexandria at an early time (Maillard, 1980).
The ancient Indian diamond mines were situated in three main groups. (Fig. 1)
1. Southern Group
These ancient mines of the southern group were the most famous and contributed to the
legendary diamonds. The mines were stretched across the vast land from the Godavari
River near Hyderabad to the Pennar River in the south, as well as the entire span of the
Krishna River belt. It comprises a vast area, which includes parts of Anantapur,
Cuddapah, Kurnool, Guntur, Krishna and West Godavari (Babu,1998). This area usually
referred to as Golconda, was one of the five mediaeval states formed after the
disintegration of the Kingdom of Deccan. Golconda existed as a State from AD 1347 to
1687 and the city of Golconda was the capital. Golconda was not a mining area but was a
very important mart for the diamonds, which were mined in the state as well in the
adjacent states. Vajrakarur (vajra= diamond karu=lake vajrakarur means diamond lake)
and Lattavaram are the kimberlite diatremes being worked even
today(Mukherjee,2002).
2. Northern Group
In the Bundelkhand district of the then Central Provinces, between the rivers Ken and
Son lie the northern group of workings. There are three types of deposits a) alluvial
terraces, b) conglomerate rocks and c) volcanic pipe situated at Majhgawan which lies
12 miles south west of Panna. The Panna Diamond Mines as they are popularly known,
have been recorded in the 16th century AD. In the earlier days, most of the shallow
gravels especially the alluvial and lateritic as well as the exposed conglomerates were
worked on (Chatterjee & Rao,1992).
In 1827 Capt Franklin discovered the Majhgawan pipe, which was termed as kimberlite
pipe much later by Sinor in the 20th century. Besides Majhgawan there are two other
kimberlite diatremes known as Hinota and Angore, which are not very productive.
3. Eastern Group
The eastern group spreads from Chhotanagpur plateau in the basins of rivers (Sankh
and Koel which come together to become river Brahmani) in the Ranchi District (23°
16': 84° 17') and in Palamau (23°35': 84°21') where occasionally large diamonds
especially blue coloured diamonds have been found. It is said the area near the Hirakud
Dam (Hirakund Hira=diamond, kund= basin), Bondisar in Kalahandi district, various
places in the Boudh districts have yielded diamonds. After the monsoon season,
especially after the intense flooding of the regions, large- sized diamonds were found in
the gravel deposits. Most of this region has Pre-Cambrian rocks and therefore besides
diamonds other gemstones have also been found here (Babu, 1998).
The eastern group further continues in the Mahanadi river valley in the neighbourhood
of Sambalpur district of Orissa as well as in the Raipur district of the newly formed
Chhatisgarh State. Here recently four kimberlite pipes have been discovered (Small &
Vaidya, 2002).
Tracing Back History
4th Century BC
Chandragupta Maurya ruled a major part of India in 4th century BC and was known in
the Greek language as “Sandrokottos”, as described by the Greek traveller, Megasthenes.
Kautilya was the minister of the king Chandragupta. He wrote a Sanskrit manuscript
“Artha Sastra” – translated as “Lessons of profit”. In this treatise, Arthasastra, Kautilya
has given details of the diamond occurrences, trade and valuation (Lenzen,1983). Not
only did the ancient Indians have knowledge of diamonds in the 4th century BC, but they
also used diamonds as commodities of active trade. Diamonds were subject to taxation
and were one of the sources of royal revenue. Value of diamond was recognized and
there were manuals for judging the value like – “Ratna Sastra” meaning GemstoneScience and “Ratna Pariksha” meaning Gem-testing and evaluation. The descendant of
King Chandragupta was the Emperor Ashoka, who had a huge empire that had the
majority of the diamond mines.
Rock Edicts of Ashoka (or Asoka)
During the times of Emperor Ashoka in 245 BC, lithographs were made in Pali language.
Inscription on rocks were called “Shila Lekh” and those on copper plate were called
“Tamrapatra”. In a place called Jongiri, these rock edicts still exist in Pali script. There
are some 5 large rocks with clear inscriptions preserved on them, stating that the
diamonds, gemstones and gold are found here and all that is found belongs to the
Emperor Ashoka.
After Emperor Ashoka many dynasties ruled this region; to name a few Chalukyas,
Vijaynagar, Bijapur, Nizam, the British and now it is part of the state of Andhra Pradesh
in the Union of India.
The early literature gives an elaborate knowledge of diamonds. Pliny (1st century AD),
Ptolemy (2nd century AD) and Buddhabhatta (5th century AD) have reported
elaborately about diamonds from India. In the 6th Century AD, the writer of the “Brahat
Samhita” written in Sanskrit, makes accurate references to some eight diamondoccurrences especially to Matanga or Telangana region, which includes the Krishna and
the Golconda districts. In the 10th Century Garud Mahapuranam gives similar
occurrences for diamonds (Satyanarayan, 2002).
Vajra Bhandar
During the days of the Vijayanagar Kingdom, Maharaja Achutrai ruled the region. A
lithograph written in Telegu and Kanada script of that time is located at Annupally. It
states that in the year 1336 there was mining of diamonds in this area called Vajra
Bhandar. When diamonds were found, they were washed in the large pond at Annupally
and then sent to the capital. In that period there existed a very large diamond market
with huge cubicles made of rock. These stone structures are still to be seen today at
Hampi. They bear witness and give evidence of great commercial activity. It is said that
envoys of all major kings and emperors from all parts of the world came here to deal.
There were facilities for lodging, boarding and entertainment for all, envoys, merchants
and dealers.
Foreign Travelers
In the 13th Century Marco Polo travelled to India and in his travelogue he refers to this
diamond district. Later Niccolo de Conti, an Italian trader in the 15th Century, made
several voyages to India. He has given a very vivid description of the diamond mining as
well as of the annual animal sacrifices offered to the temple Goddess before mining was
carried out. The meat of the animals was thrown into the valley infested with wild
animals. Many a times the vultures lifted the pieces of meat to which diamonds were
stuck. These diamonds were later retrieved from the nests. He also describes the “valley
of diamonds”. This may be of interest to the western world as there are several
paintings and descriptions of the same in various museums (Maillard, 1980).
In 16th century Domingo Paes and Fernao Nuniz travelled to India and they have
described the wealth of Hindu King of Vijaynagar as well as the mining of diamonds.
Diamond mines were worked on a royalty system. One of the strictest conditions was
that all stones above 10 carats were to be sent to the “Raja” or the king for his personal
use (Satyanarayan, 2002).
Then in the 17th century, Monsieur Tavernier, a jeweler by trade, who really knew the
importance of diamonds made six voyages to India, between 1636 and 1662, for the
purpose of collecting gems. He actually visited many of the mines and stayed at a big
Serai near the village of Karwan on the main road to Golconda, where diamond cutters
and polishers lived (Maillard, 1980).
SOUTHERN GROUP
“Rayalseema”
In the olden days the entire diamond-bearing region of the southern group, known as
“Rayalseema”, was flooded with diamonds of big sizes. Reliable evidence is available of a
flourishing diamond trade and industry in this region. In 1928, Leonard Munn, Mining
Engineer, Special Officer to the Geological Survey Department, wrote “A History of the
Golconda Diamond Mines” in which he gave various details about the geology and the
locations of the mines.
Geology
A series of Pre-Cambrian rocks occur in Southern India as Karnul formations. They are
probably of the same date as the other Vindhyan Series occurring in the middle and
southern India. Anil Kumar & Gopalan, 1992 estimate the Rb/Sr age to be 1091Ma of the
Vajra Karur Kimberlites.
The Geological sequence of the rocks in Banaganpilly. And lowest of all another set of
quartzites (sandstones, pebbles etc.) are rocks of the Banaganpilly Group. is given below
The Khoodair Group -----------
[
Under these a series of quartzites
Nundial Shales
Koilkoontla Limestones
Pinnacled Quartzites
Plateau Quartzites
Beneath these comes another series of shales and limestones with local intercalations of
silicious beds.
Owk Shales
The Jummulmudgoo ---------[
Nerjee Limestone
The Paneum Group ------------
[
It is in the lowest strata known as the Banaganpilly sandstones that the diamonds have
been found. The thickness of these rocks varies between 4 to 5 feet. The dip of the beds
is nearly horizontal.
The Banaganpilly Group consists of sandstone-and-grit-quartzites, with bands of pebble
beds and some conglomerates. The sandstones are generally coarse, often with a clayey
constitution, occasionally felspathic, or ferruginous and usually of dark shades or red,
grey and brown colours. Pebble beds are rather more characteristic of this group and
are composed of quartzite and various coloured cherts, jaspers and hardened shales.
The diamonds occur in some of the more pebbly and clayey layers.
Golconda Diamond Mines
In the year 1677, the Right Honourable Earl Marshall of England, Henry Howard,
published an important paper on the Golconda Diamond Mines, in the Philosophical
Transactions of the Royal Society Of England. In his paper he mentioned that India was
the sole source of the world’s supply of diamonds. There was ample and reliable
evidence that “the richness of these mines was enormous and their wealth became
proverbial”.
This important paper gave the first detailed description of 23 Mines in the Golconda
region. The name “Golconda” was affixed to the mines, although they lay very far south
of the Golconda Fort, because it was the name of the capital, the treasury and the mart
for diamonds. Later, when the British ruled India, many of these mines were under the
Golconda Diamond Mining Co, a British company with its Head Office in Madras; hence
most of the diamonds were said to come from Golconda.
Golconda mines, geographically lie in a large area between 13°20’N latitude to 17°0’N
latitude and 77°47’E longitude to 85°15’E longitude which comprises about 336 km
(210 miles) long and 152 km (95 miles) wide. This area now forms the parts of the
Cuddapah, Kurnool, Bellary, Krishna and Godavari districts.
Between the 16th and mid 19th centuries there were nearly thirty open pit mines in
operation in Golconda. Prime amongst them was Kollur located 80km from the Bay of
Bengal. Other well-known mines were Partial, Gollapally, Ramallakota, Mallavally and
Banganapally. Some of these mines were tunnels some were pits and others deep pits.
The pits were only a few feet deep and the soil that was dug up was sent up in open
trays a relay of workers standing along never-ending lines. In the mines the
diamondiferous layer was observed as a seam of about six or eight inches thick, between
thicker and harder beds of sandstone. The layer occurred as a very fissile damp clayey
conglomerate and breccia, of small rounded fragments and pebbles of varied coloured
shales and quartzite. The gangue was then pounded up, washed, shifted and laid out to
dry on prepared floors after which the residue of clean sand was carefully examined
manually by the women and children. These workers dug with remarkable precision
and when large sized diamonds were unearthed they were washed, dried and then
examined in the bright sunlight. There were 30,000 to 60,000 workers in every mine
and the entire working was an organized operation. Any diamond above l0 carats was
the property of the king (IDEX magazine 2003).
Locations of the mines, where some of the famous legendary diamonds were found, are
given below :
MAHBUBNAGAR DISTRICT
There are three famous mines in the Mahbubnagar district
Somsila l6°03’N: 78°20E
Amaragiri 16°04’N: 78°23’E DARYA-I-NUR Diamond and NASSAK Diamond were
found here.
Bollaram 16°5’N: 78°26’E.
BELLARY DISTRICT
In this district the three famous mines are :
Gunjeegoonta, 2 miles South of Wajra Karur, Lat. 15°77’N: Long. 77°42’E
Vajra Karur, Lat. 15°2’N: Long. 77°27’E Here the FLORENTINE and the BAZU
diamonds were found.
Lattavaram 14°56’N: 77°47’E.
KARNUL DISTRICT
More than twenty diamond mines were operational in this district at one time. The
famous among them are :
Banganpilly : Lat. 15°18’N: Long. 78°16’E SHAH DIAMOND was located here
Baswapur, Lat. 15°25’N: Long. 78°43’E.
Byanpalle; Lat. 15°32’N: Long. 78°14' E; 24 miles SSE of Karnul.
Polur: Lat. 15°31’N: Long. 78°19’E Diamonds were found on the banks of Kundur
river; in Nandikotkur Taluk. HOPE diamond was found here
Kannamadaklu : Lat. 15°42’N: Long. 78°14’E POLAR STAR was found here.
Lanjapoleur : Lat. 15°45'N30"; Long. 78°4' 7 miles SSW of Karnul; Rammalakota
Taluk. TAJ-E-MAH diamond was found here.
Muddavaram: Lat. 15°29’N: Long.78°30’E 7 miles ESE of Rammalakota ; Nandial
Taluk. SANCY diamond was found here.
Munimadagu : Lat. 15°15’N: Long. 78°2' E in Pattikonda Taluk.
Rammalakota : Lat. 15° 34'N: Long. 78 °3' E 18 miles W. by S. of Karnul KOHINOOR
Diamond was found here.
GUNTUR, KISTNA AND GODAVARI DISTRICTS
For centuries, diamonds were found in these places, among them the known localities
were as follows:
Atkur; or Atanur : Lat. 16°38’N: Long. 80°23’E IDOL’EYE diamond was found here
Bollupadu: Lat. 16°38'N: Long. 80°23’E
Golapalle (or Golapilly): Lat. 16°43'N: Long. 80°57’E
Kodavatakullu Lat. 16°40’N: Long. 80°23’E
Kollur (the Gani or Coulour of Tavernier): Lat. 16° 42’N: Long. 80°12’E; right bank of
Kistna. The ORLOFF Diamond was found here.
Moonaloor (or Moogaloor) : Lat. 16°38'N: Long. 80°23’E.
Ustapalle: Lat. 16°40’N: Long. 80°23’E
Partial: Lat. 16°39’N: Long. 80°27’E REGENT diamond was found here.
Rewa Group
Sandstone,
Shale
Conglomerates
Ultrabasic
Kimberlites/
diatreme
lamproites
Upper
Proterozonic Vindhyan Super Group
Kaimur Group
Baghain Sandstone
Pipartola
Conglomerate
Semir Group
Archaean
Bundelkhand
Palkawan Shale
Pandwatall
Sandstone
Granite and
Granite gneiss
Geo-morphologically the Vindhyan sediments in Panna area are characterized by two
plateaus with sharp escarpments (a) the lower Panna or Baghain Plateau which is a
remarkably horizontal rising to about 300 m above the Archaean basement and (b) the
upper Rewa plateau to the south. Both the plateaus with their escarpments trending
ENE-WSW run parallel to the trend of the Vindhyan sediments as well as the wellmarked ENE-WSW lineaments. The ultrabasic pipes at Majhgawan and Hinota are
located in the Panna plateau and intrusive into the Baghain sandstone of the Kaimur
Group. The sandstone has a gentle 2-5 monoclinal dip towards southeast.
Kimberlitic and Lamproitic nature of Majghawan
The Majhgawan pipe occurs on the western limit of the Panna diamond belt (80x85km)
and is emplaced along a well-marked ENE-WSW lineament. Study of satellite imagery
clearly brought out another set of lineaments (trending NNW-SSE), traversing the belt.
The Majhgawan pipe is ideally located at the intersection of the above two
perpendicular sets of fractures/lineaments (Chatterjee and Rao, 1992). The Hinota pipe
lying at about 3.5 km northwest of the Majhgawan pipe occurs along the NNW-SSE
lineament. According to Janse (1992), the Majhgawan mine was developed on a
lamproite, which is located on the margin of the Aravalli archon.
According to Chatterjee & Rao, 1992, the alkaline ultra basic diatreme at Majhgawan has
an idealized geological setting being intruded into platformal Kaimur sandstones of the
Lower Vindhyan Supergroup (1400-1100Ma). The overlying cratonic Bundelkhand
Granite Basement (2550 Ma) is a typical archon as per Janse (1992). Recent Rb/Sr age
data indicate the age to be between 1042 Ma (Smith 1992) and 1097 Ma (Anil Kumar
and Gopalan 1992), for the Majhgawan pipe. The pipe is a carrot shaped body
reminiscent of a typical kimberlite with minimal erosion. Scott-Smith (1989, 1992a) has
classified the rock as a lamproite. He has termed it as Olivine lamproitic lapilli tuff of
crater facies. High TiO2 (4.6%), less abundance of typical heavy indicator minerals
(HIM) like group 10 pyrope garnet and ilmenite and overall petrological characters of
the pipe strongly reflect lamproite nature. High amounts of certain minor elements such
as Ba (3000 ppm), Sr (1000 ppm) and REE (high La, U/Th ratio) also indicate its
lamproitic character.
On the other hand the typical carrot shape of the plug, almost concentric distribution of
diamonds, mode of presence of mantle derived xenocrysts, overall chemistry with high
MgO (25%) low K2O (1%) and fair amounts of Cr and Ni are highly characteristic of
Kimberlitic nature. Broad petrographic characters coupled with abundance of
xenocrysts and occurrences of country rock xenoliths and geochemical characteristics
suggest it is in several aspects typical kimberlite rather than lamproite. The garnet
population with fair amount of harzburgitic pyrope and larger share of Iherzolitic
variety indicate characteristics almost intermediate between kimberlite and lamprorite.
According to Ghosh & Soni 2002, by virtue of their geochemistry and petromineralogical character, the Majhgawan pipe rocks are uniquely placed among
diamondiferous rocks of the world. Earlier the Majhgawan diatreme was referred to as a
kimberlite pipe on the basis of geochemistry and mineralogical assemblages. Detailed
mineralogical study of Majhgawan pipe indicated presence of pseudomorphs of olivine,
chrome-diopside, amphiboles (hornblende, actinolite, tremolite), magnetite, limonite,
chlorite and garnets. Spinel, calcite, zircon, perovskite, barites, and diamonds are also
recorded. Possible melilite, rutile, titanomagnetite, pectolite, dolomite have also been
recorded. On the basis of magnonian ilmenite, talc and vermiculite, chlorite and calcite
and on the basis the other evidences this rock has been named as lamproite. Further, on
the basis of the absence of the typomorphic monticellite (primary), abundance of
pholgopite cognate, frequent presence of barite and primary calcite and other chemical
characters, the Majhgawan diatreme has further been named as orangeite.
Comparison of inclusions in Vajrakarur (Southern Group) and Majhgawan
(Northern Group)
Diamonds contain inclusions of other minerals (Mukharjee, 2002) from which the
genetic relationship between diamond and the minerals can be assessed.
According to Mukherjee 2002, spinels are found as inclusions in diamond and such
inclusions have generally distinctive chemical compositions. These are considered to be
cogenetic with diamond host. Spinels of related composition can be readily used in
differentiating between mineralized and non-mineralized source rocks. These indicator
minerals are normally more abundant than the diamonds in a pipe and give valuable
information for planning exploration.
Vajrakarur (Southern group)
Vajrakarur pipe-10 is situated near Anumpalle village, 17km east of Vajrakarur at the
intersection of two lineaments trending N30W and ENE and has intruded into granitic
terrain. Anumpalle kimberlite shows macrocrystic olivines, which are serpentinised
olivine, and have other constituents like phlogopite and limonite.
Majhgawan (Northern Group)
The Majhgawan pipe in Madhya Pradesh occurs on the western limit of the Panna
diamond belt and is emplaced at the intersection of two sets of lineaments i.e. ENE-WSW
and NW-SSE. The pipe is intruded into the Baghain sandstone of the Kaimpur Group of
Proterzoic age (1100Ma) and varies considerably in lithology.
S1, S3, S4, S5 and S10 groups and the presence of S1 and S2 spinels suggests that the
diatreme is of diamondiferous in nature.
The Fe/Fe+Mg and Cr/Cr+Mg ratio percentage of the chrome spinels from Majhgawan
range between 48.62 to 64.77 and 83.41 to 92.94 respectively and chrome spinels fall in
the field where chrome spinel is intergrown with, or included in diamond. The cluster
analysis of Majhgawan indicated S1, S2, S3, S4, S6 and S9 groups and S1 and S2 spinels
are diamond indicators.
Studies carried out by Ravishankar 2002 show magnetite, magnesiochromite and
titanomagnetite constitute the spinel phase. The Cr/(Cr+Al) and Fe+2/(Fe+2 + Mg) ratios
in magnetites range from 0.27 - 0.67 and 0.79 - 0.98 respectively. On the other hand
magnesiochromites have Cr/(Cr + Al) ratios 0.9 and the Fe+2/(Fe+2 + Mg) ratios ranging
from 0.52 - 0.98. Plots of data on analyzed spinels on Cr/(Cr + Al) versus Fe+2/(Fe+2 +
Mg) and Ti/(Ti + Cr + Al) versus Fe+2/(Fe+2 + Mg) indicate that they have the
characteristics of both S1 and S2 spinels (Ravishankar et al, 2002).
According to Ravishankar et al, 2002 rutile occurs as microphenocrysts and also as
microlites in the groundmass of the Majghawan rock and on analysis it has been found
to be hving 84-96 wt % TiO2, appreciably lower (<1 wt%) contents of MnO and NiO.
Both Cr2O3 and total iron (expressed as FeO) are low (ranging from 0.16 - 0.40 and 0.67 1.62 wt % respectively). Zr concentrations in the same grain range from 0.0 - 0.08
whereas analyses of rutile from surface sample of Majhagawan mine contain 1.11 - 2.77
wt% ZrO2.
Description of Diamonds
Diamonds recovered from the Majhgawan pipe as well as from conglomerate and
gravels of the Panna diamond belt are mostly in good crystals shapes. The only
difference between the kimberlite diamonds and the conglomerate/gravel diamonds is
that in later case the edges of diamonds are more rounded and some diamonds are
frosted. The typical crystal form is a combination of octahedron and dodecahedron
forms. The octahedrons have sharp edges. A larger majority of the modified forms
indicate signs of resorption. Flats and twinned crystals (macles) are also common
(Chatterjee & Rao, 1992).
EASTERN GROUP
The eastern group comprises the area from Chhotanagpur plateau to various places in
Bastar regions. The eastern group further continues in the Mahanadi river basin in the
neighbourhood of Sambalpur district of Orissa as well as Raipur district of the newly
formed Chhatisgarh State.
Every study by the GSI and DGM indicated the possibility of the diatremes containing
appreciable quantities of diamond (Chatterjee et al., 1992). In addition field
reconnaissance suggested the likelihood of other diatremes being located. The discovery
area was subsequently named the Raipur Kimberlite Field (RKF).
Another kimberlite called Kosambura kimberlite (20°10’N: 82°12’E) located 800 metres
east of the village of Kosambura has been found recently. The follow up of very strong
stream sediment heavy mineral indicator assemblages led directly to a small outcrop of
kimberlite within a tertiary drainage feature. The Temple kimberlite (20°12’N: 82°11’E)
is located 1300m to the west of Behradih pipe and is named after a nearby roadside
temple. This diamtreme was also found primarily by the follow- up of positive mineral
indicator assemblages in streams; but in this case no outcrop was observed. The
diatreme was finally located by a ground geophysical survey, followed up by shallow
pitting into identifiable weathered kimberlite (Small & Vaidya, 2002).
It is highly likely that more kimberlite bodies will be found, once analysis of all samples
is completed and further follow-up work begins in earnest.
The Behradih kimberlite (20°12’N: 82°12’E) is located at a distance of 1.5 km south east
of Behradih village, which, in turn, is located at a distance of 158 km from Raipur the
capital of Chhattisgarh, on Raipur-Deobhog State.
Geology
Mishra et al., 1989, have described the regional geology of Behradih in Raipur District.
The Archaean rocks are represented by granite/granite-gneisses with enclaves of
chloriteschist, Banded Magnetite Quartzite (BMQ) and quartz mica schist. These in turn,
are unconformably overlain by middle to upper Proterozoic Pairi Group of chemoclastic
sediments of Khariar basin, represented by sandstone, shale and limestone. Tectonically,
the Archaean crystalline rocks of Bastar Craton are in faulted contact with rocks of
Eastern Ghat Mobile Belt. The southern extension of Khariar basin is truncated by the
major lineament named as Sondhur lineament that
Recent - Sub Recent
Archaeans
Soil, Laterite
Intrusive Kimberlite
Quartz vein,
Basic dyke and
Aplite with
enclaves of schists,
amphibolite &
Banded Magnetite
quartzite
Granite/Granite gneises
Owing to their mostly Precambrian antiquity, unless capped and protected by a cover
sequence, the majority of kimberlite pipes in India have been eroded to a deeper level of
erosion, some time even up to the root zone of the pipes. Keeping in view the erosional
history of the kimberlite pipes, it is expected to locate good secondary diamond deposits
in weathered product and at suitable trap locations in the valleys draining the area
(Khatediya et al 2002).
The level of erosion of diamondiferous kimberlite pipe rocks effectively controls the
amount of placer diamond expected in the weathered profile. A diamondiferous pipe
rock, where level of erosion is only up to crater facies would contributes less amount of
diamond in placer deposits than those that are eroded up to root zone (Khatediya et al.,
2002). The pipe rocks, with level of erosion upto diatreme facies, are also expected to
contribute a good amount of diamond to placer occurrences. Chemical analysis of all the
four pipes had indicated them to be highly enriched in diamond. The Paylikhand, Jangra
and Behradih pipes indicate level of erosion up to diatreme facies, while the Kodomali
pipe is eroded up to the root zone. Obviously, the liberated diamonds are presently redistributed to occur somewhere as placers. The Kasijhar nala is the only major drainage
(with its tributaries) carrying the loads of weathered kimberlite rocks to appropriate
natural trap sites. The Kasijhar nala joins the Indrawn River, which in turn joins the
Udyanti River to transport the sediments further down stream.
The diamondiferous kimberlites have been eroded up to diatreme facies and hence,
good amount of diamond might have been carried away through transporting agencies
to favourable sites of concentration. The colluvial and alluvial zones, palaeo-channel,
meanders, braided channels, weathered sediments etc. are the possible target for the
placer deposits. The Raipur district of Chhattisgarh State has much potential for future
diamond exploration program.
PRESENT POSITION AND CONCLUSION
Mining in the three groups viz. southern, northern and eastern is being carried out as
open pit type. Underground mining has not been done so far. Many of the Multinational
companies like De Beers, Rio Tinto, BHP Billiton, Oropo Limited and others have started
large scale prospecting for diamonds in the eastern and southern regions of India. De
Beers is spending some $5 million on diamond exploration in India. With new
techniques like airborne geophysical surveys for locating diamond deposits, India might
once again have large quantities of rough diamonds.
If the prospecting and exploration for diamonds is successful, then India shall once again
have large indigenous supply of rough diamonds. India already has large diamond
cutting factory facilities and jewellery manufacturing units. Besides, there is also a
population of one billion as ready market.
In fact, the second half of the 20th century witnessed a tremendous and unchequered
growth of the gem and jewellery trade and industry in India. Codified figures from the
Gem & Jewellery Export Promotion Council, show that in the year 1969 the exports of
gem and jewellery items from India were only a meager amount of US$ 3 million. In
2004 the export figures are US$11.98 billion of which US$ 8.62 billion accounts for
diamond exports. This astronomical figure shows that India is recognized as one of the
leading suppliers of polished diamonds to the world market. Besides diamond has
always been part of the Indian tradition and culture.
India imports rough diamond from major sources like DTC and Argyle through their
sights, in addition to the supply obtained directly from the open markets in Antwerp and
other places. India cuts and polishes more than 60% of the annual world production of
diamonds. The import of rough diamond for this fiscal year is to the tune of 185.27
million carats and is much more than the world production of diamonds, which is
approximately 120 million carats. Today, Indian diamond industry cuts and polishes 9
out of every 10 diamonds sold in the world market. The diamond industry employs
more than 1,000,000 skilled artisans for cutting and polishing of diamonds. In the last
ten years India’s diamond and jewellery industry has overtaken many of the world’s
more developed and established centers (IDEX, 2003). These days with computerized
tracking systems, cutting-edge laser technology and machines like Sarin are seen with
smaller manufacturers. Besides many of the exporters have spread their tentacles and
opened offices in every major diamond center in the world. This has given added boost
to the growing industry.
Diamond studded jewellery has suddenly developed in leaps and bounds. De Beers with
their higher emphasis on diamond promotion in India has borne fruit. Jewellery for
exports and jewellery for domestic market are emerging as major segments. The annual
consumption of gold in India is more than 800 tons of which 300 tons is fabricated in
jewellery for exports. In recent times the demand for diamond-studded jewellery has
increased, with modern casting techniques using less quantity of gold. India is now
emerging as a major market for studded diamond jewellery.
In concluding the topic, we wish to state that more than 2500 years ago, India was the
first to give to the world the most precious treasure on earth viz. diamond. India
supplied large diamonds to all corners of the globe. In the saga of time we almost lost
the record of the journey of Indian diamonds till the 17th century. However from the
17th century India again enjoyed for some time a prominent position in the world map
of diamonds.
Today in this new millennium India is the leader in manufacturing of cut and polished
diamonds and retains the position as the largest supplier of faceted diamonds to the
world market.
Acknowledgement
The authors express thanks to the National Mineral Development Corporation Ltd.,
Hyderabad and Panna for their support and permission to take photographs, to the
Department of Geology and Mining, Raipur and Geological Survey of India. The authors
are grateful to Mr. Somanath Deshmukh for his various interesting inputs and
photographs of the southern group. Special thanks are extended to the staff and
members of the Gemmological Institute of India.
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