Hello Guest User, You are visiting this website from a computer with an IP address of 172.70.130.141 with the name of '?' since Tue Apr 23, 2024 at 10:50:29 PM PT for approx. 0 minutes now.
The Sheahan Diamond Literature Reference Compilation - Scientific and Media Articles based on Major Keyword - History
The Sheahan Diamond Literature Reference Compilation is compiled by Patricia Sheahan who publishes on a monthly basis a list of new scientific articles related to diamonds as well as media coverage and corporate announcements called the Sheahan Diamond Literature Service that is distributed as a free pdf to a list of followers. Pat has kindly agreed to allow her work to be made available as an online digital resource at Kaiser Research Online so that a broader community interested in diamonds and related geology can benefit. The references are for personal use information purposes only; when available a link is provided to an online location where the full article can be accessed or purchased directly. Reproduction of this compilation in part or in whole without permission from the Sheahan Diamond Literature Service is strictly prohibited. Return to Diamond Keyword Index
Sheahan Diamond Literature Reference Compilation - Scientific Articles by Author for all years
Each article reference in the SDLRC is tagged with one or more key words assigned by Pat Sheahan to highlight the main topics of the article. In an effort to make it easier for users to track down articles related to a specific topic, KRO has extracted these key words and developed a list of major key words presented in this Key Word Index to which individual key words used in the article reference have been assigned. In most of the individual Key Word Reports the references are in crhonological order, though in some such as Deposits the order is first by key word and then chronological. Only articles classified as "technical" (mainly scientific journal articles) and "media" (independent media articles) are included in the Key Word Index. References that were added in the most recent monthly update are highlighted in yellow.
When Pat Sheahan tags an article with the single keyword History whether in the technical or media literature odds are good that it is reasonably accessible to non-diamond-industry readers. If she included additional terms the reference will end up in the relevant major keyword report. When Pat publishes her monthly list of new references, it is always worthwhile to check out the new yellow highlighted articles in the History report. Scientific articles will have an abstract and a ink to a prettier version of the abstract and sometimes the full article, though usually just to the means for purchasing the full article. Media articles link to the usually unrestricted online content. The History section is Pat Sheahan's ultimate goodie bag.
The History of the State of Georgia from 1850 to 1881 Embracing the Three Important Epochs: the Decade Before the War 1861-1865; the War; the Period of Reconstruction.
Protest by the Volksraad of the Orange Free State Against The Annexation of the Diamond Fields by Proclamation of His Excellency Sir. H. Barkley on the 27th. October, 1871.
The Diamond Mines of Griqualand West. Reports on the River Digging, Kimberley, Dutoitspan, Bultfontein and the Old de Beers Mines with Remarks on Diamond Mining Generally.
Gespecificeerde Lijst der Verzameling Diamant soorten Voornamelijk Afkomstig Uit de Mijnen Van de Kaap de Goede Hoop Aan's Rijks Museum Van Natuurlijke Historie Ten Geschenke Gegeven.
The Immigrant's Guide: the Diamond Fields of South Africa, with a Map of the Country and Full Particulars As to Roads, Prices of Necessities, Orange and Vaal rivers
The South African Gold Fields Where they Are, What they Area and the Best Route to Them. with a Section by J. B. Moodieon the Diamond Fields of South Africa and How to Reach Them.
The Schuller Diamond Mine Redivivus. Some Interesting History of the National Diamond Syndicate its Present Position And a Full Description of the Property.
South African Mining Journal, Vol. 8, PT. 1, JUNE 11TH. No. 379, PP. 427-429.
South Africa
Current Activities, History, Rayton, Production, Mining Economic
The Great Diamond Industry of South Africa. History of the Progress of de Beers, Premier and Other Diamond Producers, Dutoitspan, Wesselton, Bultfontein.
South African Mining Journal 21ST. ANNIVERSARY VOLUME., Vol. 21A, P. 251-259.
The World's Gems. Precious Stones and Their Distribution -predominance of South Africa. Origin of Diamonds- a Valuable Contribution to the Literature of Gem Stones.
Mining Engineering Journal of South Africa, Vol. 33, PT. 2, No. 1634, PP. 531-532.
Diamonds... Extract from Arkansaw Geological Survey's Outlines of Arkansaw Mineral Resources Published in 1927 and Producers and Production Figures Revised to 1931.
The Story of de Beers. with Some Notes on the Company's Financial, Farming, Railway and Industrial Activities in Africa and Some Introductory Chapters on the River Diggings and Earlt Kimberley.
The Discovery and Evaluation of the Ellendale and Argyle Lamproite Diamond Deposits, Kimberley, Western Australia.
Society for Mining, Metallurgy and Exploration (SME)-American Institute of Mining, Metallurgical, and Petroleum Engineers (AIME)., SYMPOSIUM OUTLINE FALL MEETING DENVER OCTOBER 26TH. No. 84-3
Katanga: mineral wealth, human challenges. The mineral wealth of the Congo is a phrase much used nowadays, often in condemnation of those endeavouring to develop
David Magang: mutineer turned visionary. Minister of Minerals for Botswana made impassioned plea in 1997 for new free standing international competitive cutting.
Kimberlite - one of the best preserved dikes - and possible the first found - is currently located in a parking lot on Green Street in downtown Syracuse, N.Y.
Presents from weddings past. In 1947 William son sent a 54.5 carat diamond to Princess Elizabth as a personal wedding gift. It was cut into a 23.6 carat brilliant and set into a platinum brooch in the shape of an alpine rose.
William and Kate given diamonds during tour of Canada's Northwest Territories. Cufflinks and brooch ( polar bear shapes) courtesy of Harry Winston - Gannicott
Precambrian supercontinents, glaciations, atmospheric oxygenation, metazoan evolution and an impact that have changed the second half of Earth history.
Review of African Political Economy, Routledge Pub., Vol. 41, no. 142, pp. 500-515.
Africa, Guinea
History
Abstract: The article explores the relationship between mineral resources and conflict management in Guinea. Literature on theories of recent civil wars and/or armed conflicts in West Africa identifies the combination of abundant natural resources and extreme poverty as a significant trigger of violent civil conflicts. In Guinea, however, despite this combination, the state has managed to avoid large-scale civil violence. This gives rise to the question of why this combination has failed to be associated with the onset of large-scale violence in the country. The article identifies mitigating factors that have contributed to political stability in Guinea. It concludes that measures taken by Guinea and its international partners mitigated the security threats posed by these resources, while keeping most Guineans in abject poverty. This is in contrast to findings in recent quantitative studies whereby natural resource abundance alongside extreme poverty is strongly associated with armed conflicts in West African nations.
Designing women.. History of women paving the way forward from Victorian era … Maker & Muse: women and Early Twentieth Century Art Jewelry exhibit in Chicago opens Feb. 14, 2015.
Geology and resource potential of the Congo Basin, Springer Regional Geology Reviews, Chapter 17, 9p.
Africa, Democratic Republic of Congo
Overview, history
Abstract: An overview is provided of the exploration history and geological setting of the kimberlites in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Exploration for diamonds, in what was then known as Congo Belge, started in 1900 and the first diamonds were found in 1903 in Shaba (now Katanga) Province, in 1907 in Kasai Occidental Province near Tshikapa Town and in 1918 in Kasai Oriental Province near Mbuji Mayi Town. While the Kundelungu kimberlites in Katanga Province were discovered in 1908, other kimberlite fields were discovered much later (Mbuji Mayi 1946; Tshibwe 1956; Bas-Congo 1974; Kasendou and Lukashi 2005), during exploration work by Forminière (Société Internationale Forestière et Minière du Congo-Tshikapa), MIBA (Societé Minière de Bakwanga-Mbuji Mayi), the De Beers Group and Bugeco S.A. Published age constraints on the kimberlites show Late Cretaceous ages for the Mbuji Mayi kimberlites (~70 Ma) and Eocene-Oligocene ages for the Kundelungu kimberlites (~32 Ma). Emplacement of the Late Cretaceous kimberlites (Mbuji Mayi, Tshibwe, Kasendou and Lukashi) was concomitant with the deposition of Cretaceous sedimentary sequences. The majority of the pipes show crater-facies preservation and some of the pipes are flared displaying so-called ‘champagne glass-shaped’ morphologies, suggesting emplacement into unconsolidated sediments overlying basement. The age of the Eocene-Oligocene Kundelungu kimberlites corresponds to lithospheric extension associated with the southward propagation of the East African Rift.
Geology and resource potential of the Congo Basin, Springer Regional Geology Reviews, Chapter 16, 20p.
Africa, Democratic Republic of Congo
Overview, history
Abstract: Since the mid-1950s the Kwango River has been a major target for alluvial diamonds which are and continue to be mined from its terraces, younger river flats and present-day river channel. The terraces have maximum ages of Early to Middle Pleistocene. Most of the diamonds have been recovered from large diamond placers in and along the Angolan section of this river—the Cuango River. Smaller deposits have been worked further downstream, where the Kwango River forms the international border between Angola and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), also referred to as the ‘international’ Kwango. The prospecting history of this river goes back to 1906 but a systematic exploration program over the lower Kwango was only initiated in 2005. The application of geophysics to explore the terrace deposits and river flats has been very useful, but a programme of drilling and pitting was required to accurately define gravel and overburden thicknesses, and outline palaeo-channels. A diamond study used to glean information on diamond sizes and characteristics added significant value to the understanding of these alluvial deposits. For most of the international Kwango, terraces and river flats overly aeolian facies of Upper Kwango Group. Basement rocks, providing more favourable sites for diamond concentrations, are only exposed over a relatively short section, just upstream from Tembo. The basal part of the Cretaceous Kwango Group is locally composed of chemically mature gravels with diamonds in economic quantities only proximal to primary sources and no such settings were found in the project area. The size frequency of the diamonds from the international Kwango indicates that these form the distal head of the diamond trail that have been eroded out of the Cretaceous Kwango Group sediments and kimberlites in the Upper Cuango basin in Angola since the Pleistocene. The diamonds below the two major waterfalls along the international Kwango near Tembo, the Guiliame and Francois-Joseph Falls, show a high percentage of breakage and a decline in average diamond size from around 0.25 cts/stn above the falls to between 0.07 and 0.1 cts/stn in the Nzasi Muadi to Kitangu area between 20 km and 130 km below the Falls. However, local variations due to geomorphological influences affect diamond concentrations and sizes. A preliminary assessment of the terrace deposits suggests that these are uneconomic at present using modern mining methods. This is largely due to thick overburden (up to 12 m of sand) combined with thin and hence low-volume, medium-grade basal gravel, and the dominance of small diamonds of lower value.
Abstract: Alfred Wegener (1880-1930) was a leading explorer, geophysicist, and meteorologist from Germany, and pioneer in the exploration of Greenland (1). His seminal volume of meteorology (2) is universally considered a fundamental manual for this discipline and was long a reference text for students and specialists. Wegener's preeminent scientific legacy, however, is the continental drift hypothesis. He first presented his thesis to the scientific community on 6 January 1912 at the Geological Society of Frankfurt am Main, but his famous monograph on the subject dates to 1915 (3).
Abstract: This article briefly outlines the history of the colonial diamond industry of Sierra Leone from 1930 to 1961, highlighting its contingent aspects and the bonds guiding the decisions and actions taken by local social actors in different contexts and at different times. By drawing on colonial documents and memoirs of colonial officers, it shows how the colonial government of Sierra Leone and the mining company that exercised a monopoly on diamond extraction collaborated on the establishment of a series of legislative and disciplinary devices that encompassed forms of biopolitical expertise.
Historical Research, Vol. 89, no 243, pp. 136-157.
Africa, Sierra Leone
History
Abstract: This article briefly outlines the history of the colonial diamond industry of Sierra Leone from 1930 to 1961, highlighting its contingent aspects and the bonds guiding the decisions and actions taken by local social actors in different contexts and at different times. By drawing on colonial documents and memoirs of colonial officers, it shows how the colonial government of Sierra Leone and the mining company that exercised a monopoly on diamond extraction collaborated on the establishment of a series of legislative and disciplinary devices that encompassed forms of biopolitical expertise.
Abstract: Images of diamonds appear everywhere in American culture. And everyone who has a diamond has a story to tell about it. Our stories about diamonds not only reveal what we do with these tiny stones, but also suggest how we create value, meaning, and identity through our interactions with material culture in general. Things become meaningful through our interactions with them, but how do people go about making meaning? What can we learn from an ethnography about the production of identity, creation of kinship, and use of diamonds in understanding selves and social relationships? By what means do people positioned within a globalized political-economy and a compelling universe of advertising interact locally with these tiny polished rocks? This book draws on 12 months of fieldwork with diamond consumers in New York City as well as an analysis of the iconic De Beers campaign that promised romance, status, and glamour to anyone who bought a diamond to show that this thematic pool is just one resource among many that diamond owners draw upon to engage with their own stones. The volume highlights the important roles that memory, context, and circumstance also play in shaping how people interpret and then use objects in making personal worlds. It shows that besides operating as subjects in an ad-burdened universe, consumers are highly creative, idiosyncratic, and theatrical agents.
Abstract: This article contributes to evolving debates on Sierra Leone’s post-war “crisis of youth” by providing an extended analysis of the role that young boys and girls assume in negotiating household poverty and enhancing their livelihood opportunities in small-scale mining communities. Child miners – or “half shovels” as they are locally known – are both directly and indirectly involved in small-scale gold extraction in Kono District, Sierra Leone’s main diamond-producing area. But the implications of their involvement are often far more nuanced and complex than international children’s rights advocates understand them to be. Drawing upon recent fieldwork carried out in and around the Kono mining village of Bandafayie, the article argues that children’s participation in the rural economy not only generates much-needed household income, but in many cases is the only way in which they can earn the monies needed to attend school. A blind and uncritical acceptance of international codes and agreements on child labor could have an adverse impact on children and, by extension, poor communities in rural Sierra Leone. Western notions of “progress” and development, as encapsulated in the post-conflict reconstruction programing of international NGOs and donor organizations, often do not match up with the complex realities or competing visions of local people.
Journal of the Russell Society, Vol. 18, pp. 24-45.
Europe, United Kingdom
History
Abstract: The presence of quartz crystals in t he soils around Buxton has been known for centuries, and at one time theses so-called 'Buxton Diamonds' were, from published sources, apparently realtively abundant, and well-knwn to both visitors and to commentators. However, few specimens survive in museum collections, and there is considerable confusion in published accounts as to what exactly constitutes a 'Buxton Diamond'. No satisfactory description or explanation of their origin r occurrence has hitherto been published. Attractive specimens of quartz and amethyst are known from various occurrences in the Peak District, associated with igneous rocks, but these are not true 'Buxton Diamonds' . This paper presents the history of 'Buxton Diamonds', and confirms the occurrence of these, sometime highly attractive, crystals of quartz in the limestone of Diamond Hill and the surrounding area.
Abstract: Since the end of World War II, there have been 259 armed conflicts in 159 locations (1). Sierra Leone's civil war began 25 years ago, at a time when roughly 25% of all countries worldwide were experiencing civil war (2). How can individuals and groups recover from such violent conflicts? On page 787 of this issue, Cilliers et al. (3) provide rigorous evidence on the efficacy of one postwar reconciliation strategy that was implemented in 100 communities in Sierra Leone (4).
Journal of African Media Studies, Vol. 8, 2, pp. 109-126.
Africa
History
Abstract: This paper argues that the western press often ignores the private sphere of economics in reporting conflict in the developing world. This matters when it comes to resource wars and conflict over natural resources. To explore this concept further I examine American and British press coverage of conflict diamonds in the Angola, Congo and Sierra Leone wars in the pages of four newspapers of record. Overall while conflict diamonds were present in the reporting the press ignored the full extent of private companies and capital in the financing and trading of conflict diamonds. The most common word used was government.
The 4th Colloquium on Diamonds - source to use held Gabarone March 1-3, 2010, 10p.
Global
History
Abstract: This paper examines the historical developments in diamond beneficiation technology and the impacts on the industry. The art of diamond beneficiation has given way to the application of scientific process, but at considerable capital expenditure. The shift in beneficiation methodologies has been disruptive to the traditional skills set of the industry, but evolutionary change continues and has been beneficial to the quality of the final product.
Abstract: The Central African Republic (CAR) is the only source of traditionally defined conflict diamonds in the world today. Since May 2013, exports of its diamonds have been under international embargo by both the United Nations and the Kimberley Process (KP), the initiative that regulates the production and trade of rough diamonds. CAR was suspended from the KP after a March 2013 coup d’état that sparked widespread civil unrest in the country. The coup was the inevitable outcome of years of political instability forged by a coalition of rebel groups, known as Séléka, who attacked the government and incrementally seized territory, including the strategic diamond-mining town of Bria.2 On March 24, 2013 Séléka captured the capital city of Bangui and overthrew the government, initiating a bitter internal conflict that continues to fester to this day. The civil war and regime change forced the United Nations and the international community to impose economic sanctions on CAR. Not only were all diamond exports prohibited, the KP urged diamond-trading countries to exercise enhanced vigilance and ensure that diamonds produced in CAR were seized and not allowed to circulate in legitimate trade.3 While the ban on CAR’s exports was partially lifted in 2016 from regions deemed to be KP compliant, that has not stopped the flow of CAR’s conflict diamonds to international markets—while it was under full embargo or regions still prevented from trading today. This report examines the smuggling of diamonds from the Central African Republic into Cameroon. Further, it focuses on the impact this illicit trade has on Cameroon’s internal controls as well as the broader integrity of the diamond supply chain. The report describes the methods used and the key actors involved in this illicit trade. It concludes that the KP and frontline countries like Cameroon need to do more to interrupt the illicit trade of conflict diamonds from CAR and support each other in taking action.
The eminent eight. IKC and history of conference and the prominent delegates ( ones who initiated the idea and followed through attending all 10 conferences to date).
Abstract: The eternity of the world and, correlatively, the cyclical nature of time were agreed upon by all Greek philosophical schools except the Platonists. As for matter, all of them posited that it was eternal so that the idea that something could be made from nothing was considered as pure absurdity. With the advent of Christianity, however, a matter coeternal with God raised fundamental theological difficulties. Toward the end of the second century, apologists such as Tatian the Assyrian, Theophilus of Antioch, Irenaeus of Lyons or Tertullian thus emphasized God's absolute freedom and power by claiming that Creation had been made from nothing. Along with the Passion of Christ and the Last Judgment, the initial moment defined by the Creation then conferred to time an irreversible, linear orientation and to history both a new sense and an obsessing concern for chronology. Unambiguously, the Creation became the reference point for the world's history. From Scripture analyses, one determined that it took place about 5500 years earlier within a framework where the History of man and that of the earth were not distinct. Having designed a consistent, universal time scale from chronological data recorded for all ancient peoples, Eusebius of Caesarea could thus attribute to the Great Flood the fossils found on the top of Mount Lebanon. The short Mosaic chronologies were eventually rejected during the 18th century, but Eusebius’ chronological procedure was unknowingly transposed when a relative geological timescale was then set up from the fossil record. The close association of Creation with Christian dogma in turn induced some circles to reject the second law of thermodynamics at the end of the 19th century and, a few decades later, the thesis of an expanding universe. In both cases, the reason was that continuously increasing entropy would imply some low-entropy initial state akin to a Creation.
Reviews of African Political Economy, Vol. 44, 152, pp. 272-291.
Africa, South Africa
history
Abstract: This article examines the history of South African mining over the last 30 years. It notes the declining contribution of mining to the economy, and a drop in employment levels and labour migration. It considers political, legislative and macro-economic changes, as well as mine ownership and control. It addresses the question why a democratically elected government, progressive labour legislation, trade-unionisation and Black Economic Empowerment have made remarkably little difference to working conditions. After examining the trajectories of individual commodities, such as gold, platinum, coal and diamonds, it concludes there has been no fundamental change in the relationship between state and capital.
Abstract: In the mid 1880s a little-known photographer named Robert Harris produced a series of albumen prints showing the stages of body searching that black labourers in De Beers diamond mines were obliged to undergo by state ordinance enacted in 1883. The original photographs surfaced briefly in the sale-room in 2007 but have since disappeared. Two sets of copies survive. Bearing in mind the history of documentary photography in South Africa, this essay examines the historical and textual significance of this series of photographs in the context of the history of mining and discusses the imperatives and ethics of locating, researching and publishing controversial imagery in the internet age.
Abstract: This richly illustrated history of diamonds illuminates myriad facets of the “king of gems,” including a cast of larger-than-life characters such as Alexander the Great, the Mughal emperor Jahangir, and East India Company adventurers. It’s an in-depth study tracing the story of diamonds from their early mining and trade more than two thousand years ago to the 1700s, when Brazil displaced India as the world’s primary diamond supplier. Jack Ogden, a historian and gemologist specializing in ancient gems and jewelry, describes the early history of diamond jewelry, the development of diamond cutting, and how diamonds were assessed and valued. The book includes more than one hundred captivating images, from close-up full-color photographs of historic diamond-set jewelry (some previously unpublished), to photomicrographs of individual gems and illustrations of medieval manuscripts, as well as diagrams depicting historical methods of cutting and polishing diamonds.
Abstract: Together with Mauritius, Botswana is often categorized as one of two growth miracles in sub-Saharan Africa. Due to its spectacular long-run economic performance and impressive social development, it has been termed both an economic success story and a developmental state. While there is uniqueness in the Botswana experience, several aspects of the country’s opportunities and challenges are of a more general nature. Throughout its history, Botswana has been both blessed and hindered by its natural resource abundance and dependency, which have influenced growth periods, opportunities for economic diversification, strategies for sustainable economic and social development, and the distribution of incomes and opportunities. Through a political economy framework, Hillbom and Bolt provide an updated understanding of an African success story, covering the period from the mid-19th century, when the Tswana groups settled, to the present day. Understanding the interaction over time between geography and factor endowments on the one hand, and the development of economic and political institutions on the other, offers principle lessons from Botswana’s experience to other natural resource rich developing countries.
Review of African Political Economy, Vol. 45, no. 158, pp. 522-540.
Africa, Sierra Leone
history
Abstract: This article explores the relationship between the 2014-2016 Ebola outbreak and the political economy of diamond mining in Kono District, Sierra Leone. The authors argue that foreign companies have recycled colonial strategies of indirect rule to facilitate the illicit flow of resources out of Sierra Leone. Drawing on field research conducted during the outbreak and in its aftermath, they show how this ‘indirect rule redux’ undermines democratic governance and the development of revenue-generation institutions. Finally, they consider the linkages between indirect rule and the Ebola outbreak, vis-à-vis the consequences of the region’s intentionally underdeveloped health care infrastructure and the scaffolding of outbreak containment onto the paramount chieftaincy system.
Abstract: The Taj Mahal evokes an image of a monumental building and reflecting pool—its classic view. But the Taj Mahal complex is much more than that. It is actually a series of beautiful buildings and gardens in Agra, India, built in the seventeenth century in loving memory of Mumtaz Mahal. This name, given by the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan to one of his brides, means “Chosen One of the Palace.” Famed for its architectural magnificence, the landmark holds additional significance for the gemologist. Upon closer investigation, one is impressed with the intricacies of the inlay of numerous gems to create thousands of designs throughout the buildings on the grounds. This article sheds light on the gems used in decorating the Taj Mahal and in the extraordinary jewelry collected by Shah Jahan and other Mughals. These gems often took intricate trade routes to Agra, which are also discussed, along with the craft used to create the inlays and the efforts undertaken to preserve this Wonder of the World.
Abstract: My geologic research began at Carleton College. I studied heavy minerals in some midcontinent orthoquartzites, publishing my very first paper in American Mineralogist in 1954. As a master's candidate at the University of Minnesota, I investigated igneous differentiation in a diabase-granophyre sill of the Duluth Gabbro Complex. Later, in a Ph.D. program at Johns Hopkins University, I became Joe Boyd's apprentice at the Geophysical Laboratory (GL), and for a time was phase-equilibrium god of the Na-amphiboles. Doctoral research earned me an offer of a UCLA assistant professorship as a mineralogist in 1960. There, I continued pursuing amphibole P-T stability relations in lab and field. My glaucophane phase equilibrium research would later be found to have instead crystallized Na-magnesiorichterite. However, amphibole research led me to map field occurrences of HP-LT (high P-low T) blueschists of the Franciscan Complex. Thus, when plate tectonics emerged in the late 1960s, I was deep in the subduction zone. My recent studies focused on the petrology and geochemistry of oceanic crustal rocks, Californian calc-alkaline arcs, and coesite ± microdiamond-bearing crustal margin rocks in various parts of Eurasia. Other works treated global mineral resources and population, mineralogy and human health, and early Earth petrotectonic evolution. I tried to work on important problems, but mainly studied topics that fired my interest. For the future, I see the existential challenge facing humanity and the biosphere as the imperative to stop our overdrafting of mineral resources. This will require reaching a dynamic equilibrium between the use and replenishment of near-surface resources (i.e., nutrients) essential for life. Earth scientists are planetary stewards, so we must lead the way forward in life-supporting mineral usage, recycling, substitution, and dematerialization. In any event, sustainable development will soon return to the Earth's Critical Zone of life because Mother Nature—the ruling terrestrial economist—abhors long-term overdrafting of resources.
Burek, C.V., Higgs, B. eds Celebrating 100 years of female fellowship of the Geological Society: Discovering forgotten histories. Geological Society of London Special Publ. 506, in press, 13p. Pdf
Russia, Siberia
history
Abstract: Exploration for diamonds in the Soviet Union started in the 1940s, however it was not until the beginning of 1950s that the government acknowledged a strong need for locally mined diamonds. In this article, based on publications from Russian literature, we recount a story of two female geologists, Larisa Popugaeva and Natalia Sarsadskhih. Natalia was the head of the mineralogical laboratory who implemented a new methodology to search for mineral indicators of primary diamond deposits. Larisa was a young geologist who joined Natalia's team in 1953. The work of these women led to the discovery in 1954 of the first diamond deposit in the country - a kimberlite pipe "Zarnitsa". In 1954 Natalia was unable to go into the field, therefore the discovery was made by Larisa. Credit for this discovery, however, was claimed by the higher officials from the Amakinskaya expedition, one of the largest diamond exploration organisations in the country. Multiple efforts to restore justice did not succeed, with Larisa only being awarded the title of the "Discoverer" in 1970, and Natalia not until 1990. This article provides a description of Larisa's and Natalia's life up until the discovery of Zarnitsa, and a few significant events after.
Abstract: The Open Access movement has gathered significant momentum over the last couple of years. This has been instigated largely by cOAlition S and those funders which support its aims. Is ‘Read and Publish’ the way forward? Will it work for all publishers? All authors? All subscribers? All readers? This article looks at the history of OA and updates a similar piece from 2013. A detailed glossary of terms is given at the end of the article.
Canadian Journal of Development Studies, Vol. 41, 3, pp. 450-466. pdf
Africa, Ivory Coast
history
Abstract: Implementation of the African Mining Vision in Côte d’Ivoire is weak, and AMV domestication is unlikely to happen soon. Focusing on the artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) sector, a key section of the AMV, we look at the tumultuous recent history of the diamond mining town Tortiya. The subject of a halting and uneven formalisation process, the case is emblematic for the lack of interest shown in ASM at a policy level. This is due to high costs, and low political and economic returns of formalisation. It underscores a broader lack of strategic vision for the mining sector.
Two farmers became millionaire overnight, found diamond worth crores. One 7.44 ct from mine in Jaruapur and other from Krishna Kalyanpur in Bajaria 14.95 cts.
South African Historical Journal, Vol. 72, 3, pp. 431-460.
Africa, Angola
history
Abstract: In the wake of the Anthropocene there is a growing body of literature questioning the colonial and imperialistic underpinnings of geology, mineralogy and mining sciences. When focused on the African continent, these critiques echo and complement previous analyses of the role that anthropology has played as the ‘handmaiden of colonialism’. This article proposes to liken the two debates by focusing on the ethnographic practices promoted by the Angolan diamond mining company Diamang (1917-1988) during the interwar period. It argues that mineral desire, the greed for mineral resources such as diamonds, copper or gold, was the drive behind the introduction of ethnographic collecting and field-working to the Portuguese colony. The implications of this shift in perspective will be explored regarding the ongoing restitution debate. First, the article demonstrates that the history of the objects collected by Diamang disrupts ‘classic’ readings of the history of Portuguese anthropology focused on ‘disciplinary big men’ and their agendas. Second, it shows how the gathering and interpretation of ethnographic and archaeological data were totally integrated into the extractive apparatus of Diamang. The article then concludes by suggesting that the decolonisation of ethnographic collections must consider their entanglements with mining, geology and mineralogy.
Overview of diamond companies ….. Comments by Zimnisky and Purcell on difficulties Olivut, Mountain Province, Tahera, Stornoway, Dominion, Diavik, Ekati, Snap Lake, Victor, Star,
Abstract: During my doctoral studies, in the late 1980s, I realised that the Italian kamafugites (kalsilite melilitites) had to be related to carbonatite magmatism. I started a detailed study of the kamafugitic sites, and I explored remote areas deep in Italy’s Apennine mountains. When I found the Polino carbonatite, I put a few drops of acid on it, and the rock reacted. I have a vivid memory of my heart beating faster. I had found it! My fellow geologists were somewhat sceptical, but the late Professor Giorgio Marinelli (1922-1993) encouraged me and predicted many new carbonatite discoveries. He was right. Overcoming my Latin temperament, I focused on the concept that carbonatites, however unusual as rocks, cannot be dismissed as simple geological oddities but require detailed and comprehensive study. I am fond of all the history that marked my latest 40 years of life, and it reminds me of the many friends and mentors that I have had, especially when I was a young researcher. Sadly, some of them are no longer with us. I am so grateful to them, and I consider it a life-changing experience to have met them
Abstract: The Zambezi rises with considerable modesty in north-west Zambia from a small spring on the gentle upland of the Southern Equatorial Divide - the watershed that separates the river from north-west-flowing tributaries of the Congo. The evolution of the Zambezi River has repeatedly modified the distribution of riverine plant and animal species. The hydrology of the Zambezi is further influenced by water exploitation by different users, along its main channel and tributaries. The dams have had severe ecological impacts on the major floodplains, as a result of the reduction of the supply of water and sediment. The major Early Cretaceous Zambezi-Limpopo River system entered the Mozambique coastal plain via a line of crustal weakness that was exploited by a major west-north-west trending dyke swarm. Drainage evolution of the Palaeo-Chambeshi system has been invoked as the primary cause of the recent evolution of the molerats.
