The Royal Alberta Museum’s mineral collection has a new, and very large addition to the team. The 11-carat rough stone from the Northwest Territories is “fairly colourless” according to Melissa Bowerman, assistant curator of geology for the Edmonton facility. She adds, “It does have a tint of yellow but the inclusions give it a bit of a grey tone. It does have etched, triangular pits in it. The diamond shows signs of being unhappy as it rose in the magma and became etched. So you get these beautiful little triangular pits.”
Bowerman explains that most diamonds that come out of Canadian mines aren’t always very large and the largest ever found was around 20 carats.
The Royal Alberta Museum receives its rocks through purchase, donation or field collection from all over the world. CJ
