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<blockquote data-quote="Dannyalcatraz" data-source="post: 8372604" data-attributes="member: 19675">You can’t compare apples &amp; apples on RW mining vs typical D&amp;D campaign settings.&nbsp; Magic and the creatures that use them skew everything.Dwarves, earth elementals, Move Earth, Mattock of the Titans, planar gates and Wish, for instance, could make diamonds at least as common as they are in the modern world.&nbsp; Or more so.Tangent#1 on diamond scarcity: back in the 1990s when Russia was having a severe wheat shortage and South Africa wanted to play hardball to make it more difficult for them to get the loans they needed to buy food on the international market, the Russian government invited 60 Minutes to see some of its diamond vaults.&nbsp; As Mike Wallace (as I recall) wandered around a single vault the size of a small store full of shelves similar to a library’s, his guide led him to one aisle that was where they kept 1ct flawless brilliant cut white diamonds.&nbsp; He then claimed there were several aisles like it in that vault, and dozens of such vaults scattered across Russia.&nbsp; He said that if Russia couldn’t get the loans they needed, they’d start selling diamonds.South African opposition to Russia’s loans evaporated a few days after the segment aired.Tangent#2 on diamond scarcity: Dr. Freid, my gemology prof, was among the last group of gemologists ever to see the Persian (modern-day Iran) Crown Jewels intact.&nbsp; His group given 2 weeks to appraise the collection.&nbsp; His few permitted pictures and his personal observations were of 20+ foot tall vaults of unknown depth stacked to the ceiling with gemstones of all major types.&nbsp; Mostly rubies, but everything else as well, including diamonds.&nbsp; Most of it was uncut, but they were still kicking fist size gem materials out of their way to walk.&nbsp;&nbsp; They explained 2 weeks was insufficient time to appraise a “Ritchie Rich” level&nbsp; (his words) collection like this.&nbsp; Iran did not renew their visas.&nbsp; Shortly after their visit, the Iran-Iraq war started, and he believes that a large portion of the Crown Jewels were sold off to fund the war effort.&nbsp; (They apparently have never been seen since that time.)</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Dannyalcatraz, post: 8372604, member: 19675"] You can’t compare apples & apples on RW mining vs typical D&D campaign settings. Magic and the creatures that use them skew [I]everything.[/I] Dwarves, earth elementals, Move Earth, Mattock of the Titans, planar gates and Wish, for instance, could make diamonds at least as common as they are in the modern world. Or more so. [B]Tangent#1 on diamond scarcity[/B]: back in the 1990s when Russia was having a severe wheat shortage and South Africa wanted to play hardball to make it more difficult for them to get the loans they needed to buy food on the international market, the Russian government invited [I]60 Minutes[/I] to see some of its diamond vaults. As Mike Wallace (as I recall) wandered around a single vault the size of a small store full of shelves similar to a library’s, his guide led him to one aisle that was where they kept 1ct flawless brilliant cut white diamonds. He then claimed there were several aisles like it in that vault, and dozens of such vaults scattered across Russia. He said that if Russia couldn’t get the loans they needed, they’d start selling diamonds. South African opposition to Russia’s loans evaporated a few days after the segment aired. [B]Tangent#2 on diamond scarcity[/B]: Dr. Freid, my gemology prof, was among the last group of gemologists ever to see the Persian (modern-day Iran) Crown Jewels intact. His group given 2 weeks to appraise the collection. His few permitted pictures and his personal observations were of 20+ foot tall vaults of unknown depth stacked to the ceiling with gemstones of all major types. Mostly rubies, but everything else as well, including diamonds. Most of it was uncut, but they were still kicking fist size gem materials out of their way to walk. They explained 2 weeks was insufficient time to appraise a “Ritchie Rich” level (his words) collection like this. Iran did not renew their visas. Shortly after their visit, the Iran-Iraq war started, and he believes that a large portion of the Crown Jewels were sold off to fund the war effort. (They apparently have never been seen since that time.) [/QUOTE]

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