Diamonds in the Rough-ssia
Have you ever wondered what its like to live in Russia? If you have played Fallout 3, you probably already have a pretty good idea. After the collapse of the USSR in 1991, things went from bad to worse. But it seems like Russia has been hiding something for 40 some years.
For years now, under the Soviet government, russians have been building classified facilities to start mining and exporting goods from the great beyond. Recently Russia has admitted to having over 1 trillion carats worth of diamonds hidden away in a 62 mile wide crater.
"Diamonds you say? Like diamonds that go on rings?" Not exactly. These were formed differently from the rocks used to persuade someone to spend the rest of your life with. The carbon Russia has been hiding for so long are called "impact diamonds". Siberia is covered with natural graphite deposits. When a flaming rock from space careened into the surface of the earth, the graphite instantly became super hard diamonds, twice as strong as average beauty shiners.
Why the hush hush? Russia has been secretly gearing up for this move for quite some time, especially because of the mining operation in Mirny, Yakutia.
And indeed, the deposit of super-hard diamonds contained in rocks of the Popigai crypto-explosion structure is massive — about trillions of carats. This is ten times the amount found in Yakutia.
Moreover, this extraterrestrial diamond deposit is the only one in the world. By virtue of this unique cache, Russia now has a monopoly on what will surely be a very sought after resource. And indeed, geologists say there is enough raw material in the crater to supply global demand for centuries to come.
Insane in the membrane.
Source(s)
io9
Gizmodo
Sorry @[member='Gahars']
I thought i would take this one. Not only do i find things about the USSR, rocks, and space interesting, but also my last name, Bortz, actually means "industrial strength diamond".