DIAMOND (INDUSTRIAL)

                (Data in million carats, unless noted)

Domestic Production and Use:  Synthetic diamond production maintained its record-high
level.  Most industrial diamond produced domestically was synthetic grit and powder. 
The output was from two firms, one each in New Jersey and Ohio.  Seven firms
recovered and sold industrial diamond as the principal product.  About 35 firms
recovered industrial diamond in secondary operations.  Major uses of all industrial
diamond were machinery, 27%; mineral services, 18%; stone and ceramic products, 17%;
abrasives, 16%; contract construction, 13%; transportation equipment, 6%; and other,
3%.  The mineral services industry, primarily drilling, accounted for 59% of stone
consumption.

Salient Statistics--United States:1/     1991      1992      1993      1994      1995e/
Bort, grit, and powder and           
 dust, natural and synthetic:  
 Production: Manufactured diamond        90.0      95.0       105       104       115
             Secondary                    3.5       3.4      15.9      16.0      26.1
 Imports for consumption                 70.0      97.3       133       174       200
 Exports and reexports                   78.8      83.6       107       153       120
 In manufactured productse                 .6        .6        .6        .4        .8
 Sales from Government stockpile 
  excesses                                5.0      10.4        --       2.0        .2
 Consumption, apparent                   89.1       122       146       141       222
 Price, value of imports, 
  dollars per carat                       .83       .70       .61       .51       .46
 Net import reliance2/ as a percent of                                        
  apparent consumption                      E        19        18        15        36
Stones, natural:
 Production: Mine                          --        --        --        --        --
             Secondary                     .3        .1        .1        .1        .3
 Imports for consumption                  7.6       9.8       5.2       2.8       3.9
 Exports and reexports3/                  2.9       5.6       3.4       4.4       5.6
 Sales from Government stockpile 
  excesses                                 --        --       1.3       3.1        .3
 Consumption, apparent                    5.0       4.3       1.9       1.5        --
 Price, value of imports,                                          
  dollars per carat                      6.68      4.56      6.85      9.41      6.66
 Net import reliance2/ as a percent of
 apparent consumption                      94        98        95        95         E

Recycling:  About 26.4 million carats were salvaged in secondary production from
salvage stone, sludge, and swarf.

Import Sources (1991-94):  Bort, grit, and powder and dust, natural and synthetic: 
Ireland, 63%; China, 7%; Russia, 7%; and other, 23%.  Stone, natural:  United
Kingdom, 30%; Zaire, 23%; Ireland, 16%; and other, 31%.

Tariff: Item              Number    Most favored nation (MFN)    Non-MFN4/
                                           12/31/95              12/31/95
Miners' diamond, 
 carbonados            7102.21.1010          Free                  Free.
 Other                 7102.21.1020          Free                  Free.
Industrial diamond, 
 natural advanced      7102.21.3000      3.9% ad val.           30% ad val.
Industrial diamond, 
 natural not advanced  7102.21.4000          Free                  Free.
Industrial diamond, 
 other                 7102.29.0000          Free                  Free.
Dust, grit, or powder  7105.10.0000          Free                  Free.

Prepared by Industrial Diamond Specialist (703) 648-7721.

                        DIAMOND (INDUSTRIAL)

Depletion Allowance:  14% (Domestic), 14% (Foreign).

Government Stockpile:  Excess crushing bort and industrial stones were sold at
auction.

                       Stockpile Status--9-30-95

                   Uncommitted     Committed      Authorized     Disposals
Material            inventory      inventory     for disposal  Jan.-Sept. 95
Crushing bort         2.0             --             1.7            0.22
Industrial stones     5.1            0.09            2.1            0.26

Events, Trends, and Issues:  The industrial diamond industry experienced another
robust year, and U.S. consumption is estimated to have increased significantly. 
Total U.S. sales, including exports, were up.  It is estimated that the industrial
diamond worldwide market performed similarly to the U.S. market.  Companies in
Ireland, South Africa, Sweden, Germany, South Korea, and the United States increased
production capacity for synthetic industrial diamond during 1995.

World Mine Production, Reserves, and Reserve Base:5/

                          Mine production   Reservese/ 6/  Reserve basee/ 6/
                           1994      1995e/
United States                --        --         --            Unknown
Australia                  23.8      23.0        500                900
Botswana                    5.0       5.0        130                200
Brazil                       .9        .9          5                 15
China                        .9        .8         10                 20
Russia                      8.5       8.0         40                 65
South Africa                5.8       6.0         70                150
Zaire                      13.0       5.0        150                350
Other countries              .8       1.3         80                200
 World total 
 (may be rounded)          58.7      50.0        980              1,900

World Resources:  The potential to discover diamond resources in the United States,
Canada, and Russia has improved.  However, evaluation of deposits already discovered
will take several more years.  Technology has been developed to synthesize diamond
for industrial use worldwide in the range of sizes of powder, dust, and grit; and
firms in the United States and Japan manufacture synthetic stones.  World resources
of natural industrial diamond in the stone-size range are unknown.

Substitutes:  Competitive materials are cubic boron nitride, fused aluminum oxide,
and silicon carbide as manufactured abrasive materials and garnet, emery, and
corundum as natural abrasive minerals.  Synthesized polycrystalline diamond was
competitive with natural stones in many applications.  Research continued on
additional uses of synthetic polycrystalline compacts and shapes as substitutes for
stones and the uses of diamond films and diamond-like carbon coatings.

e/Estimated.  E Net exporter.
1/Industry stocks and employment were unknown.
2/Defined as imports - exports including reexports + adjustments for Government and
industry stock changes.
3/Includes diamonds in manufactured abrasive products.
4/See Appendix B.
5/Natural industrial diamond only.
6/See Appendix C for definitions.

                              Mineral Commodity Summaries, January 1996