Glossary of terms

Alluvial

Alluvial diamonds are diamonds that have been removed from their primary position by erosion over millions of years, and have been deposited in a river bed, ocean floor or shoreline

Blood or
conflict
diamond

A diamond mined in an unstable area and sold to finance war

Boart

Small pieces of diamonds

Carat

A carat is the international unit of measurement used to measure the weight of diamonds. One carat is the equivalent of 0.2 grams

Facet

A flat face of a diamond or other gem

Heat sink

A heat exchanger that absorbs or transmits excess heat allowing regulation of a device’s temperature

Igneous

Igneous rock is formed through the cooling and solidification of magma or lava

Inclusion

Small imperfection inside a diamond

Kimberlite

Igneous rock, which sometimes contains diamonds, named after the city of Kimberley in South Africa

Mohs’ Hardness
Scale

Mohs’ scale of mineral hardness is named after Friedrich Mohs, a mineralogist who invented a scale of hardness based on the ability of one mineral to scratch another

Nanodiamonds

Extremely tiny diamond particles, a thousand times smaller than a single human hair

Non-governmental
organisation

Non-profit organisation that operates independently of any government, typically one whose purpose is to address a social or political issue

Rough diamond

A diamond in its natural state – uncut and/or unpolished

Tailings dumps

Tailings are the materials left over after the process of separating the valuable fraction from the uneconomic fraction of an ore