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Diamonds » Diamond Production Map
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What Countries Produce Gem Diamonds? - Diamond Production Map
Once centered in Africa, diamond production now occurs on all continents except Europe and Antarctica.
World Diamond Demand
In 2010 the world demand for natural, unset gem-quality diamonds was about $50 billion. The United States was the largest buyer of these gemstones with a consumption of about $18 billion or 35% of total world consumption.
Although the United States is the largest consumer of gem quality diamonds it has no commercial mine production. The only location in the United States that currently produces gem-quality diamonds is the Crater of Diamonds State Park in Arkansas where tourists can pay a small fee to prospect and keep any diamonds that they find. In an exceptional year the Park will produce a few hundred carats. This lack of domestic production requires the United States to import virtually all of its diamond consumption.
What Countries Produce Gem Diamonds?
Since the 1870's most of the world's gem-quality diamonds have been mined in Africa. The diamond production map at right shows all countries that produced at least 200,000 carats of gem-quality diamonds during calendar year 2009 in yellow.
The map illustrates that diamond production has spread to many parts of the world. Diamond production in Russia and Canada has grown rapidly and these countries diversify the geographic distribution of gem-quality diamond production.
The histogram at right shows the estimated 2009 calendar year production for countries that produced over 1 million carats of gem-quality diamonds.
Related: How Do Diamonds Form?
Gem Diamond Production Trends
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Estimated Diamond Production
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Country
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2010
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2011e
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| Botswana |
25,000 |
25,000 |
| Russia |
17,800 |
17,800 |
| Angola |
12,500 |
12,500 |
| Canada |
11,773 |
11,800 |
| Congo |
5,500 |
5,500 |
| South Africa |
3,500 |
3,500 |
| Namibia |
1,200 |
1,200 |
| Guinea |
550 |
550 |
| Ghana |
300 |
300 |
| Cent. African Rep. |
250 |
250 |
| Sierra Leone |
240 |
240 |
| Brazil |
200 |
200 |
| Guyana |
144 |
144 |
| China |
100 |
100 |
| Australia |
100 |
100 |
| Tanzania |
77 |
77 |
| The values above are estimated gem- quality diamond production per calendar year in thousands of carats. Data from USGS Mineral Commodity Summaries. Production for 2011 is estimated. |
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Leadership positions in the gem-quality diamond production race are constantly changing as new discoveries are made and old mines are worked out. Production trends by country between 1994 and 2010 are shown in the graph at right.
Botswana
Botswana had insignificant production until 1970 and became one of the top producers in the mid-1980s. Botswana has some of the highest yielding mines in the world and has been the world's leading producer of diamonds since it displaced Australia as the leading producer in 1999.
Russia
Russia began producing diamonds in the late 1950's and became one of the top three producers in 1970. The Russian mines are at high latitude and in demanding environments yet they continue to produce at high levels, competing with Botswana for the leading producer position.
Canada
Canada is the real surprise. Commercial mining there began in the late 1990's. Several mines came online in rapid succession, quickly making Canada one of the leading diamond producers. Some of the mines there are starting to be worked out and there are very few mines in the development stage.
Related: Canadian Diamond Mines
South Africa
South Africa was where the African diamond rush began in the 1870's. It immediately became the leading producer of gem-quality diamonds and held that position until the 1920's when Zaire entered major production. South Africa has been a consistent producer for the past few decades with production volumes regularly ranging between 4 million and 6 million carats per year.
Australia
Australia entered commercial production in 1981 and quickly became the top producer of gem-quality diamonds. In recent years, production in Australia has fallen sharply as deposits there were depleted.
Where will the next big diamond discovery occur? Perhaps it will be in Canada where another group of difficult-to-find kimberlite pipes are located, or perhaps it will be in the outback of Australia or poorly explored areas of northern Siberia.
Or, it could be in the United States where rocks similar to the Canadian production areas are starting to attract attention.
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| World gem-quality diamond production map. Countries in yellow are estimated to have produced at least 200,000 carats of gem-quality diamonds during 2009. Map by Geology.com and MapResources. Data from USGS Mineral Commodity Summaries. |
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Estimated production levels for countries mining at least one million carats of gem-quality diamonds during calendar year 2010.
Graph by Geology.com. Data from USGS Mineral Commodity Summaries. |
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Graph showing the production history of selected gem-quality diamond producing countries. Values for 2010 are estimated. Graph by Geology.com. Data from USGS Mineral Commodity Summaries. |
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