Diamond hunters assisted by Swiss breakthrough

Finding diamonds may have become easier thanks to Swiss geologists. © Keystone / Salvatore Di Nolfi

A new discovery by Swiss researchers could make the search for diamonds easier. They found that the composition of the mineral olivine in stones can reveal whether or not they contain diamonds. 

Olivine consists of different proportions of magnesium and iron, the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich (ETH Zurich) explained in a statement on Thursday. 

Geologists from ETH Zurich, together with colleagues from the University of Melbourne, have now discovered that the magnesium and iron content in the mineral olivine shows how likely diamonds are to occur in a rock sample.  

The more magnesium, the more likely diamonds are present. The researchers published these findings in the journal Nature Communications. 

The determination using olivine is much faster than previous detection methods, according to ETH Zurich. The first companies are already using the new method. 

According to ETH geologist Andrea Giuliani, the search for diamonds is a difficult process. Because diamonds can only be found where there is the grayish to black rock kimberlite.  

“Just looking for a kimberlite is like looking for a needle in a haystack,” Giuliani said, according to the statement. “Once you have found this rock, the complex search for diamonds really begins.” 

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