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posted by takyon on Tuesday May 05 2015, @08:01AM   Printer-friendly
from the finder's-keepers dept.

According to ScienceMag, the palmlike Pandanus candelabrum plant has an affinity for diamonds. Or more precisely, an affinity for kimberlite.

A geologist has discovered a thorny, palm-like plant in Liberia that seems to grow only on top of kimberlite pipes—columns of volcanic rock hundreds of meters across that extend deep into Earth, left by ancient eruptions that exhumed diamonds from the mantle. [...] It has a stilt-like aerial root system, similar to mangrove trees, and rises to a height of 10 meters or more, spreading spiny, palm-like fronds. [...] Kimberlite pipes bring the gems to the surface in eruptions that sometimes rise faster than the speed of sound. The pipes are rare.

The Kimberlite pipes are rich in magnesium, potassium, and phosphorus, and the plant appears to be particularly adapted to these soils. It appears to grows no where else.

Prospecting has just gotten much easier. That may be good for the West African nations, but not necessarily for P. candelabrum. Kimberlite mines tend to be narrow and vertical, with much smaller footprints than open-pit copper mines, and their effluent—ground-up kimberlite—is benign.

 
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  • (Score: 3, Informative) by bob_super on Tuesday May 05 2015, @03:17PM

    by bob_super (1357) on Tuesday May 05 2015, @03:17PM (#179120)

    I'm pretty sure DeBeers is stocking up on defoliant right now.
    They don't need more diamonds. They only need to ensure they have no easy competition.

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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday May 05 2015, @07:56PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday May 05 2015, @07:56PM (#179230)

    Diamonds aren't rare at all. [knowledgenuts.com] Stop getting suckered out of your money and playing into the DeBeers' cartel's scam. If you really want diamonds (why? there's nothing special about them) don't buy from DeBeers.