2007

First Diamond Found in Japan
But No Min Possible

October 2007

Could the Land of the Rising Sun be rising as a diamond producer?

A research teach from Nagoya recently discovered a natural diamond in a volcanic rock.

The find goes against an established theory that a country like Japan, with active geological movements, does not produce diamonds in a natural environment.

The diamond isn’t likely to be faceted — it is one part per thousand millimeters, and it cannot be observed even using a microscope. The researchers have declined to give the location of the site, assumedly because they don’t want it to be overrun by prospectors, even though they noted to the press it has no prospect of commercial production of diamonds, like a mine.

Meanwhile, the team is searching for the mechanism that explains how the rock got elevated from the deep part of the Earth.