Appalachian Diamonds

A diamond crystal in matrix
Photo by Rob Lavinsky

Look out, alluvial diamonds have been found scattered along the backbone of the Appalachians for years making it likely that sometime in the future a lucky prospector is likely to find a kimberlite or lamproite the two types of rock where diamonds are apt to be formed.  Diamonds have been found in Virginia, West Virginia, North and South Carolina, eastern Kentucky and Tennessee, Georgia and Alabama.  All of these states are below the area that was affected by the continental glaciers of the past million years making it likely that their host rocks are in place.

At the time of its discovery in April 1928 the famous “Punch” Jones at 34.43 carets was the second largest diamond ever found in the United States.  The Uncle Sam diamond was found in 1924 at Murfreesboro Arkansas in the Prairie Pipe Mine weighing at the time of its discovery 40.23 carets is the largest diamond ever found in North America.  The Punch Jones diamond is presumed to have washed Rich Creek from neighboring Virginia.   There are five sites in or near to Virginia where diamonds have been found one in kimberlite and one in peridotite; it is presumed all of these diamonds came from similar rock types.

Brilliant Cut Diamonds

North Carolina produced 13 diamonds in the mid-1800s.  The North Carolina Geological Survey has recently undertaken studies of lamproites in the Charlotte area to better understand where these diamonds originated and to discover clues as to their origin for other exploration projects in the Piedmont.  The other Southern States produced one or two additional diamonds.  The lack of glaciation in all these states suggests a local origin for theses diamonds.  Lamproites and kimberlites have been discovered in the immediate areas where most of these diamonds have been found, but none have been found since WW II when gold mining operations ceased in the southern Appalachians.

Resumption of placer mining operations make the discovery of diamonds likely.  Most of the diamonds discovered in the past were from placer mines with a few exceptions.  The Punch Jones diamond is one of these exceptions it was discovered when Punch Jones and his father were playing horseshoes.  Although this diamond was discovered in 1928 it took until 1942 before its true identity was established.

Fortunately diamonds have some distinct minerals associated with them making it possible to find diamond deposits by tracing the diamonds and other associated minerals to their source.  These minerals include type “G” pyrope garnets, chrome diopside, phlogophite mica and serpentine.  The mineral illmanite is frequently found associated with diamonds too.  Tracing these minerals is often done with soil samples taken below the “A” horizon that contains organic matter.