In reconnaissance for diamond

Diamond

In mineralogy, diamond is an allotrope of carbon, where the carbon atoms are arranged in a variation of the face-centered cubic crystal structure called a diamond lattice. Diamond is less stable than graphite, but the conversion rate from diamond to graphite is negligible at ambient conditions...

 mining

Mining

Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the earth, from an ore body, vein or seam. The term also includes the removal of soil. Materials recovered by mining include base metals, precious metals, iron, uranium, coal, diamonds, limestone, oil shale, rock...

, blue ground refers to a layer of nonoxidized

Redox

Redox reactions describe all chemical reactions in which atoms have their oxidation state changed....

 kimberlite

Kimberlite

Kimberlite is a type of potassic volcanic rock best known for sometimes containing diamonds. It is named after the town of Kimberley in South Africa, where the discovery of an diamond in 1871 spawned a diamond rush, eventually creating the Big Hole....

. Kimberlites are a class of igneous rocks commonly associated with diamond mining. Before the advent of modern geophysical probes, the ideal way to find a kimberlite pipe was to search for "yellow ground", a layer of oxidized kimberlite which is a deep tawny yellow. "Blue ground" was regarded with scorn during the South Africa

South Africa

The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...

n diamond rushes, and one of the central characters in the initial diamond rush, Barney Barnato

Barney Barnato

Barney Barnato , born Barnet Isaacs, was a British Randlord, one of the entrepreneurs who gained control of diamond mining, and later gold mining, in South Africa from the 1870s.-Background:...

, made his fortune by purchasing digs in which the "blue ground" was all that remained.

External link

http://maps.google.com/maps?sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=37.462243,57.568359&ll=-29.772591,25.442129&spn=0.040157,0.056219&z=14Aerial view of Jagersfontein

Jagersfontein

Jagersfontein is a small town in the Free State province of South Africa. The original farm on which the town stands was once the property of a Griqua Jacobus Jagers, hence the name Jagersfontein. He sold the farm to CF Visser in 1854. A diamond rush started in 1870 after farmer JJ de Klerk found a...

, South Africa showing blue kimberlite from kimberlite hole (mine)]