Today, diamonds are mined in about 25 countries, on every continent except for Europe and Antarctica. However, only a few diamond deposits were known until the 20th century, when scientific understanding and technology extended diamond exploration and mining around the globe. For 1,000 years, starting roughly in the 4th century BC, India was the only source of diamonds. In 1725, important sources were discovered in Brazil, and in the 1870’s major discoveries were made in South Africa, marking a dramatic increase in diamond supply. Additional major producers now include several African countries, Siberian Russia, and Australia. It is a modern misconception that the world’s diamonds come primarily from South Africa, truly diamonds are a world-wide resource. The common distinctiveness of diamond deposits, lays in ancient terrain that horde kimberlite and lamproite pipes that bring diamonds to the Earth’s surface.



The map above shows both the major deposits and the ancient bedrock. Both the 2,500-million-year- old archons and less productive 1,600 to 2,500-million-year-old protons, that contain the diamond pipes. The diamonds in secondary deposits have been moved away from the pipes due to the erosion. Diamond trading is mainly concentrated in diamond centers around the world. The biggest trading centers are in Antwerp, Belgium and Ramat Gan, Israel. These diamond trading centers are united under the World Federation of Diamond Bourses (WFDB). The WFDB was founded in 1947 to unite all bourses and provide training in rough and polished diamonds, and other precious stones. This also produced a common set of training practices for all bourses. The WFDB provides a legal framework and convenes regularly to adopt common regulations for its twenty three diamond bourse members.