Post 1
Most real ore doesn't glow
Hook on the post: You'd probably walk right past real diamond ore. Most real ore doesn't glow. ⛏️
In one line: What treasure really looks like when it comes out of the ground: diamond in kimberlite ("blue ground"), lapis lazuli as a rock of lazurite, calcite and pyrite, and emerald as beryl with chromium or vanadium.
Sources
Kimberlite & diamonds
- GIA Gems & Gemology, Summer 2019
- GIA G&G, Fall 2024
- Dawson, "Kimberlite," Encyclopedia of Earth Science (Springer)
"Blue ground"
Lapis lazuli
Emerald & beryl
Glowing ores
Photo credits
Note on all photos / edits made: (all cropped, resized, lightly sharpened/color-corrected, text and gradient added)
- Slide 1: "Diamond, kimberlite 1" by Géry Parent, public domain. Wikimedia Commons file page
- Slide 2: "Diamond in kimberlite (Cretaceous; Kimberley, South Africa) 1" by James St. John, CC BY 2.0 (license). Wikimedia Commons file page
- Slide 3: "Big Hole, Kimberley, Northern Cape, South Africa" by South African Tourism, CC BY 2.0 (license). Wikimedia Commons file page
- Slide 4: "Lapis lazuli (lazuritic metamorphite)… 12" by James St. John, CC BY 2.0 (license). Wikimedia Commons file page
- Slide 5: "Columbian Beryl emerald" by Thomas Quine, CC BY 2.0 (license). Wikimedia Commons file page
- Slide 6: crops of photos 1, 4 and 5.
- License: CC BY 2.0 creativecommons.org