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Sec. II, Ch. 5: The Brazilian Diamond

Sec. II, Ch. 5: The Brazilian Diamond Page of 366 Sec. II, Ch. 5: The Brazilian Diamond Text size:minus plus Restore normal size   Mail page  Print this page
110                         Brazilian Diamonds.
but good Diamonds were found in the hollow stem. On pursuing this investigation further, most of the workmen's huts in the immediate neighbourhood were found to have some such stones hidden within them ; but the gems were as a rule, small, hardly ever exceeding one carat in weight. According to Prof. O. A. Derby, who examined the Tibagy Diamond-workings geologically, the gems appear to be derived from the Devonian sandstone, through which the river flows; but the materials of the sandstone are them­selves derived from the metamorphic rocks. Gold is widely distributed through the Tibagy district, and the Diamonds, though usually small, are of good colour and great brilliancy> The author, some years ago, joined a syndicate to work the sands in the bed of the Tibagy, but though both Gold and Diamonds were found they did not occur in sufficient quantities to render the working remunerative, and the Tibagy Diamond-fields were consequently abandoned.
The most important districts of the deposits of Diamond-bearing gravel in Brazil lie between 12 degs. and 26 degs. south latitude, including the provinces of Minas-Geräes, Bahia, Goyaz, Mato Grosso, Parana and S. Paulo.
The supply of Diamonds was greatly increased in the early part of this century, by the discovery of new and richer mines in the province of Bahia, the stones of which are called in commerce Bahias. The yield from these mines, although considerable in quantity, is, however defective in size, and inferior in average quality. The proportion of pure stones is less, and of the " off-coloured " varieties greater, than in the produce of other mines ; nevertheless, the exceptionally fine stones are as beautiful as any hitherto discovered elsewhere.
Sec. II, Ch. 5: The Brazilian Diamond Page of 366 Sec. II, Ch. 5: The Brazilian Diamond
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