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DiamondBrazil and Venezuela
Brazil and Venezuela
When diamonds were revealed by alluvial gold miners in Brazil in 1725, Indian diamond sources were near exhaustion and European demand for the stone continued unabated. From 1730 to 1870 Brazil was the world's main source of diamonds. Certainly, mining in Brazil was so active that by the late 1730s production far exceeded demand, and diamond prices fell by as much as 70%. Foundation in 1850, production rose again, following the discovery of rich deposits in Bahia, but after 1861 it rapidly declined as deposits were depleted, leading to a great shortage of rough diamonds in the European cutting centers in the late 1860s.
Productive Brazilian diamond deposits are all less important. They are generally small, and some are of low grade, so mines typically operate for short periods. Primary diamond pipes exist but are usually uneconomic, suggesting that erosion has stripped away the richest portions from them. In 1890 and 1901, secondary diamond deposits were revealed in Guyana and eastern Venezuela, adjacent to deposits in Brazil's northern state of Rora'ma. Since 1890, Guyana and Venezuela have created a total of about 4.5 and 14 million carats, respectively.