Diamonds exploration the poor cousin of Australia’s commodities boom

Diamond exploration is the poor cousin of Australia’s commodities boom despite....

  Diamond exploration is the poor cousin of Australia’s commodities boom despite a shortage of the precious stones and rising prices, according to Flinders Diamonds Managing Director Dr Kevin Wills, who said diamond exploration in Australia in 2007 was at a low ebb.“While other commodities are booming, unfortunately the same cannot be said about this nation’s diamond search,” Dr Wills said.“There has been a gradual downturn in diamond exploration over the past five to 10 years, strangely at a time when there is a developing worldwide shortage of diamonds and prices are at gradually increasing highs,” he said.Dr Wills said the shortage was due to the gradual depletion of long mined deposits around the world and a gradually rising demand alongside rising standards of living."Most major diamond explorers have either pulled out of Australia or considerably downsized their exploration activities. This has resulted in the total exploration spend being well below a level where significant discoveries are likely to be made,” he said. “Part of the reasons for the lack of discoveries is that Australia is a hard place to explore—it is often covered by a blanket of regolith and deeply weathered rocks. “On the other hand, the country has a great climate for exploration and low sovereign risk so it should be an attractive destination for exploration activity,” Dr Wills said.He said one thing that attracted diamond explorers, “like bees to a honeypot”, was a significant discovery.“This has happened in Canada; since their discoveries in the 1990s much of the world’s spare diamond exploration cash has headed northwards.”Dr Wills said that for discoveries in Australia there needed to be more expenditure coupled with innovative ideas. “At Flinders Diamonds we have been using helicopter borne magnetic surveys instead of traditional diamond indicator mineral techniques. In the Flinders Ranges this has led to the discovery of 98 kimberlite bodies in the past three years, 24 of them containing diamonds. “Unfortunately so far none have been in economic quantities and you don't get any prizes for a near miss.“We have decided to use our innovative magnetic techniques on the Gawler Craton. Cratons are good places to look for diamonds and here there are 11 known diamond localities and 28 known kimberlite bodies, but nobody has yet discovered a diamondiferous kimberlite—we aim to be the first,” Dr Wills said.