Indian scientists surveying for minerals used in the nuclear industry have stumbled upon a rare deposit of micro-diamonds -- each as big as a pinhead (about 0.5 mm) -- in the Krishna-Godavari delta in Andhra Pradesh. This is the first such deposit discovered in the country, according to the scientists of the Hyderabad-based Atomic Minerals Directorate for Exploration and Research (AMD) (Current Science, April 25, Vol 88, No 8). "Micro-diamonds are usually imported from countries like Belgium and Russia and hence this could be an important find," says Dinesh Shah of Ahmedabad Diamond Association.
Depending on the quality, these micro-diamonds can be used either in jewellery and watches or in tools used to cut bigger diamonds and any other hard material. "There could be the possibility of finding even bigger diamonds in the region," says G Viswanathan, a scientist with AMD.
-- Saatvika Rai