Russia's Shiny Secret - A Huge Treasure Trove Of Diamonds Inside Impact Crater

Earlier this week, Russian officials revealed to the world a secret that has been known to them for twenty years - A diamond supply that they claim is vast enough to fulfill global demand for at least, the next 3,000 years.

Discovered in the 1970's the diamond field is located inside Popigai Astroblem, a 62-mile diameter crater believed to have been created by an asteroid, 35 million years ago. The officials say that when they first discovered the trillions of carats, they did not to explore it, because they were then a member of the Soviet Union (USSR), which already had immensely profitable diamond mines and were also manufacturing synthetic diamonds. Now that Russia is an independent nation they decided it was time to begin mining and also, let the world into their shiny secret.

Unfortunately though, these are not the kind of diamonds that can be turned into swanky jewelry, but ones that are used in manufacturing. Known as impact diamonds they are the hardest known substance to man, formed when a space rock hits a graphite deposit at very high velocity.  According to the Russian experts, the Popigai diamonds are extra hard because of the enormous pressure and high temperature caused when the asteroid landed in the area, millions of years ago.

In addition to that they also feature strong abrasive properties and a large grain size - all highly coveted qualities since these diamonds are largely used inside cutting and grinding tools like commercial drill bits and saws. Other uses include specialized high pressure laboratory experiments, high performance bearings and sometimes even specialized windows.

For those of you too young to remember, the Soviet Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) is a former country that comprised of the modern day Russia, and a number of nearby states like Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania, Ukraine and Kazakhstan. It was founded in 1917, following the Russian Revolution that was staged by the peasantry who were tired of the corrupt monarchs. In an attempt to make life pleasant for all, they adopted the principals of communism. First promoted by philosopher Karl Marx it believes that all society should be classless and stateless - so that everybody is equal - socially and financially

Though this worked for a number of years, by the 1980's the people of Soviet Union and other communist countries started to yearn for more economic prosperity. Much like the current ongoing revolutions in some of the African and Middle Eastern countries, the ripple of events which started in Poland spread to other communist countries. In 1991, the Soviet Union was dissolved into 14 countries, the largest of which, is the Russian Federation.

Resources: csmonitor.com,wisegeek.com