Development of X-ray diamond simulants

Abstract

X-ray machines that are designed to recover diamonds from an ore body, are used extensively on diamond mines. These machines are extremely expensive and at present, there are no reliable methods, outside the De Beers Group, of determining if the equipment is performing correctly. The object of this research was to manufacture X-ray translucent X-ray diamond simulants with known fluorescent signals ranging from bright to dim. These X-ray diamond simulants will then be used to evaluate the recovery efficiency of all X-ray machines on any diamond mine. The research successfully accomplished the following: 1) The design and building of optical equipment needed to measure the fluorescent signals produced by diamonds and the diamond simulants. 2) Setting up of equipment needed to manufacture the diamond simulants. 3) Determining the ingredients needed to make a diamond simulant and 4) Determining the recipe for the diamond simulants with different fluorescent signals, for diamonds of different sizes.