Diamonds from black sand

[57chevy]

Does anyone know how to separate diamonds from black sand?

 

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[Duckshot]

I have heard that in a pan diamonds float on top of black sand because diamond is less dense.

 

[uglymailman]

Are there diamonds anywhere in N. America besides Arkansas? Good luck.

 

[galenrog]

The same methods used to separate heavy sands from gold. Be aware that diamonds are less dense than most heavy
sands. If panning, you would be panning the diamonds out. A magnifier and tweezers may also help.

Might I ask what brought this question up?

Time for more coffee.

 

[Jim in Idaho]

Are there diamonds anywhere in N. America besides Arkansas? Good luck.

There are some in Wyoming, and northern Colorado.
jim

 

[against the wind]

I found a few in the water at a beach in NYC, but they were already set in a couple of gold rings.

 

[smokeythecat]

I did the same in Maryland with the gold! Add Colorado and California to the list. And Quebec. And Northern Canada for that matter. HUGE diamond mine up there. I think the old timers used something called a "grease table", you might try a search on the net for how they worked.

 

[Machkin]

I also have to ask, what brought up this question? Probably only way to do this would be to dry all material first, than spread some, not alot, on a cookie sheet painted flat black and a diamond should stand out amidst the black sand. Time consuming but does the job when dealing with smaller classified material. Specific gravity of black sand being 5.2-5.26 and diamonds at 3.1-3.53, black sand will always have more density, thus having more weight in water.

 

[Duckshot]

I also have to ask, what brought up this question? Probably only way to do this would be to dry all material first, than spread some, not alot, on a cookie sheet painted flat black and a diamond should stand out amidst the black sand. Time consuming but does the job when dealing with smaller classified material. Specific gravity of black sand being 5.2-5.26 and diamonds at 3.1-3.53, black sand will always be heavier.

Denser. Not hevier., denser.

Gotta get these things right or the whole world will fall apart.

The point is that diamond floats on black sand in the same way that black sand floats on top of gold. So, when the lighter blond sands are almost washed off then it is time to start looking for diamonds which will be "floating" in the top portion of the remaining black sand, along with anything else that is less dense than black sand and more dense than blond sands.

 

[Machkin]

Duckshot you are correct so, I edited my above statement and will also include that I used Specific Gravity because that is the measurement that determines the density of minerals, so the specific gravity of a mineral determines how heavy it is by its relative weight to water. Specific Gravity of gold is "around" 19.