The 100th Issue: Planet

The final chapter of the Argyle mine’s story goes into reshaping the land and returning it to Mother Nature.

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FULL CIRCLE

RICHA GOYAL SIKRI

Pink diamonds from the Argyle mine in Western Australia have been likened to works of art like Fabergé eggs. Their story began in 1979 when, after spending more than 10 years exploring an area three times the size of England, geologists unearthed a diamond deposit, which became one of the world’s largest mines.

At its peak in 1994, Argyle contributed approximately 40 per cent of global diamond supply (its lifetime total is approximately 865+ million carats of rough diamonds from the mine’s commencement to closure). While the company broke new ground with innovative marketing campaigns for its champagne and cognac-coloured diamonds, what catapulted Argyle to mythic status were its red and pink diamonds, which were considered the rarest and most valuable in the world.

Murray Rayner, Rio Tinto’s principal geologist, explains the geological phenomenon behind these minerals. “Pink diamonds are flukes of nature. In addition to a million to one journey through earth via a volcano that leads to white diamond formation, pink diamonds require specific pressure at a molecular level, which twists the diamond’s lattice structure, transforming their colour from white to pink.”

But Australia is not the only source for pink diamonds as history informs us. So what makes this deposit stand out? Coloured diamond specialist, John Glajz, explains: “Unlike other sources, diamonds from Argyle display a higher degree of colour saturation in their more intense/vivid range, with greater diversity in hues. This is dissimilar to anything we’ve seen before.”