Russia is about to start tapping into a huge source of diamonds that could supply the world market for the next 3,000 years.

Scientists estimate there are 'trillions of carats' lying beneath a 35million-year-old asteroid crater in Siberia - more than ten times the global stockpile.

The Kremlin has known about the reserves under the 62-mile-wide impact zone since the 1970s.

But it has kept it a secret until now because it was already reaping big profits in what back then was a heavily controlled market.

The official news agency, ITAR-Tass, said the diamonds at the site, known as Popigai Astroblem, are 'twice as hard' as the usual gemstones, making them ideal for industrial and scientific uses.

According to The Christian Science Monitor, the institute's director, Nikolai Pokhilenko, told the agency that the new source would cause a radical shake-up in the precious stones market.

The stones at Popigai are known as 'impact diamonds' which result when an object like a meteor strikes an existing diamond deposit.

They are also unique, which will make them even more sought-after in high-precision scientific and industrial markets.

Diamond production was booming in Russia in 2007 when output reached $1.35billion, 98 per cent of which was exported to Belgium, Israel, South-east Asia and the USA.

But the bottom fell out in 2009 when polished diamond production fell to an unprecedented low of US$350 million during the economic crisis.

With world markets starting to show signs of resilience, this may explain why Russia has chosen now to reveal its hidden treasure.

【新聞快訊】

據(jù)英國《每日郵報》9月17日報道，俄羅斯日前公布了一個20世紀(jì)70年代發(fā)現(xiàn)的鉆石礦。該礦位于西伯利亞東部地區(qū)的一個直徑超過100公里的隕石坑內(nèi)，儲量估計超過萬億克拉，能滿足全球?qū)毷袌?000年的需求。

科學(xué)家們表示，這個被稱為“珀匹蓋”(Popigai)的隕石坑的歷史超過3500萬年，它下面的鉆石儲存量估計是全球其他地區(qū)鉆石儲量之和的十倍。俄羅斯之前一直隱瞞這個發(fā)現(xiàn)，目的是防止鉆石價格被壓垮而損害自己的鉆石業(yè)利益。

“珀匹蓋”的鉆石又被稱為“沖擊鉆石”，是類似隕石一樣的物體撞擊現(xiàn)有鉆石礦后形成的產(chǎn)物。它的硬度是普通寶石的兩倍，因此在工業(yè)和科研方面的應(yīng)用價值特別高。上周末，俄羅斯官員與媒體會面時表示，政府將允許位于該礦附近的新西伯利亞地質(zhì)與礦物學(xué)研究院的科學(xué)家揭開這個寶藏神秘的面紗。

新西伯利亞地質(zhì)與礦物學(xué)研究院院長說，新資源可能會對寶石市場產(chǎn)生較大沖擊。“我們說的是數(shù)萬億克拉，相比而言，為大眾所熟悉的俄羅斯雅庫特鉆石礦的儲量只有10億克拉。而且，沖擊鉆石因其獨(dú)特的表面和更大的體積，其價值更高?！?/p>

俄羅斯的鉆石產(chǎn)量2007年達(dá)到頂峰，價值13.5億美元，98%的產(chǎn)品出口至比利時、以色列、美國和東南亞。但因經(jīng)濟(jì)危機(jī)影響，其鉆石產(chǎn)量2009年跌至谷底，產(chǎn)值僅為3.5億美元。目前世界經(jīng)濟(jì)已經(jīng)出現(xiàn)復(fù)蘇的跡象，這或許是俄羅斯當(dāng)局選擇現(xiàn)在公開這個秘密的原因。