Crystal find leads to diamond rush in Nagaland's Mon

It is not without reason that people are digging a mound near Mon in east Nagaland after news spread of diamonds being found while digging for coal. There is geological research strongly indicating the possibility in Nagaland, senior journalist Sanjib Kr Baruah reports.

New Delhi: There is a virtual rush of people to a coal mine site in Mon district in eastern Nagaland bordering Myanmar after reports of diamonds being found spread like wildfire among the local populace.

“Early this week, about three of four pieces of crystals have been found in a private land. It has led to a frenzy of sorts with many saying it could be diamonds. There is no confirmation till now. A team is coming next week from the Nagaland government’s Directorate of Geology and Mining to examine as to what exactly these crystals are,” Thavaseelan K, Mon’s deputy commissioner, told ETV Bharat on the phone.

The exact place of the find is near Wanching village on the outskirts of Mon, also the district headquarter of the district.

The Nagaland-diamond connection has a context too.

Image of the crystal

In 2017, an Indo-German study presented a paper written by two geologists—Bibhuranjan Nayak from the CSIR-Institute of Minerals and Materials Technology in Bhubaneswar, and Franz Michael Meyer from Germany’s Aachen University which indicated the strong possibility of the presence of diamonds in Nagaland.

Image of the crystal

After conducting their research on the rocks of the Pokphur area of Nagaland’s Tuensang district, the two geologists concluded that the Patkai range in the Nagaland-Myanmar border has a good composition of ophiolite rocks which in turn contains manganilmenite, an unprecedented find of the mineral from the Indian subcontinent.

The research paper states in its abstract: “Since manganilmenite has been considered as a diamond indicator mineral and ophiolites are a newly documented host of microdiamonds elsewhere in the world, the presence of manganilmenite in the Pokphur magnetite hints towards occurrence of microdiamonds in the ophiolite suite of rocks of the Indo-Myanmar ranges.”

Image of the crystal

Like many other districts in the hilly state, Mon too boasts of abundant coal deposits.

“This place is near a coal belt where people have been digging coal for decades. As of now that is the only positive link with the possibility that the crystal turns out to be diamond,” Thavaseelan added.

Brought to the earth's surface by deep-source volcanic eruptions, diamonds are formed from metamorphism of coal over a long period of time and under tremendous pressure and heat.

In the meantime, the news has spread like wildfire on the Internet and on social media with people joining in the mad-rush.

Crystal find leads to diamond rush in Nagaland's Mon

“I read about diamonds being found near Wanching on the Internet. Many believe it is so and therefore so many people are crowding to this place,” says Nokkap Konyak, a local.

Mon is the traditional home of the Konyak tribe of the Nagas. Famed to be fierce warriors, Konyaks are known to have vigorously practised the headhunting custom until recently.