The rock containing this army of teeny tiny diamonds was pulled from the Udachnaya mine in Russia's Sakha Republic

Dec 17, 2014 09:33 GMT  ·  By

Earlier this week, scientists speaking at the annual meeting of the American Geophysical Union announced the discovery of a gorgeously colored rock packing tens of thousands of diamonds.

The rock in question, a photo of which is included in the gallery below, was pulled not too long ago from the Udachnaya mine in the Sakha Republic, a federal subject of Russia.

Rather than being sold at an auction, it was donated to scientific research shortly after being found. This is because, although it packs an army of diamonds, it is not worth all that much.

As explained by researchers who have had the chance to study the rock, the diamonds that are cuddled up together in this fragment of solid mineral material are too small to be classified as proper gems and be added to jewelry.

More precisely, it is understood that the gems included in the rock measure just 1 millimeter (0.04 inches) across. Otherwise put, the chances that anyone would even want to buy them are slim to none.

A one-of-a-kind rock

Geologist Larry Taylor with the University of Tennessee and fellow researchers detail that the rare rock discovered in the Sakha Republic's Udachnaya mine packs about 30,000 diamonds. Still, neither of them is all that impressive size-wise.

The good news is that, the way scientists see things, this does not mean that the rock is not well worthy of its day in the spotlight. On the contrary, the mineral fragment is said to be of great value for scientific research.

Thus, Larry Taylor and colleagues explain that, on average, a diamond ore block has a concentration of gems of about 1 to 6 carats per ton. For those unaware, a carat is the equivalent of about 0.2 grams (approximately 0.007 ounces).

What this means is that, when compared to the majority of the diamond ore blocks thus far pulled from mines all across the globe, the concentration of gems of this fairly small rock is several million times greater, Live Science explains.

“The exciting thing for me is there are 30,000 itty-bitty, perfect octahedrons [geometrical shapes that have 8 faces and resemble a couple of pyramids glued together at their base], and not one big diamond,” said University of Tennessee geologist Larry Taylor.

This one rock can shed new light on Earth's history

We humans have been utterly and completely fascinated with diamonds for centuries now. However, the fact of the matter is that we do not yet fully understand how these precious stones form deep inside our planet's entrails.

Having taken the time to closely study the anatomy of this rare rock recovered from the Udachnaya mine, scientists found evidence that it was born deep in the oceanic crust. However, they are yet to pin down the exact mechanisms underlying its formation.

Larry Taylor and fellow researchers plan to further examine the rock and say that, all things considered, this rather odd mineral fragment might help shed new light not just on the processes that translate into the birth of diamonds, but also on our planet's geologic history.

Rock found to contain some 30,000 diamonds (5 Images)

We humans have been fascinated with diamonds for centuries
The rock found to contain some 30,000 diamondsThe rock was pulled from a mine in Russia
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