Are Diamonds Still Girls' Best Friend?

"Diamonds! Diamonds!

I don't mean rhinestones!

...

But square-cut or pear-shaped

These rocks don't loose their shape.

Diamonds are a girl's best friend."

The above lyrics composed by Jule Styne and sung by Marilyn Monroe still lingers on. Diamonds have always been said to be a girl’s best friend. But coming from a geoscience background, I believe it is a matter of popular perception that makes it their best friend of choice. 

Don’t get me wrong, I am not debasing diamonds. They are precious stones, and their value has stood the test of time. The gems properties are an excellent brilliant lustre, the hardest known mineral, priced and loved by most women… and some men. 

The question to ask is, “Is it rare?” The answer is “no.” Diamonds are commercially abundant. Good jewellery stores carry stocks of them. But, why does it have to be rare? Because rarity makes it worth having and truly precious. There are rare varieties like the Argyle pink and yellow diamonds. However, there is a jewel that is even rarer – ruby! This can be evidenced by browsing your local jewellery advertising brochures. What you will find in those brochures are diamond jewellery but not ruby jewellery. If there are any, it would say “created, man made or industrial” rubies. “Natural” rubies are indeed rare! 

My wife who is also a geologist, and quite knowledgeable on gemstones, if presented with a diamond and ruby, she would obviously take both. But, if made to choose one over the other, ruby is her definite choice. During my last trip to South Africa, I was told to buy her Tanzanites. Yes, tanzanite is another rare gem, found only in Tanzania, East Africa, thus proving her adeptness of gemstones. Another requirement is that the jewellery is to be set in platinum. Platinum is her choice of base setting as it is rarer, stronger and more valuable than gold. Now with choices of Ruby, Tanzanite in a platinum setting, the question is, “Are diamonds still a girl’s best friend?” You decide, the answer is obvious! 

Tanzanite

Natural Ruby

[Originally published at Mining Plus Telegraph, Issue 15 May 2011]

Data Management

It has been referred to in many publications that an organisation’s most important resource is its data. In recent years the worldwide exploration and mining industries has rigidly emphasised the need for QA/QC with the development of standard reporting codes to meet industry best practice. Understanding how data relates to information to form the big picture enables an organisation to make better decisions, improve process efficiencies, and lower overall operational costs. In today’s highly competitive market, without an adequate understanding of the importance of an organization’s data and its structures, it would be a challenge to enable effective decision-making and provide an overall view of what is happening, both within and outside the organization. 

Recently I read Russell L Ackoff’s book entitled “Re-Creating the Corporation: A Design of Organizations for the 21st Century.” In his book, Ackoff posited a tier, from top to bottom, of wisdom, understanding, information, knowledge, and data. He also estimated that on the average human mind consists of 40% data, 30% information, 20% knowledge and 10% understanding and almost no wisdom. Ackoff’s model can be viewed as a pyramid with wisdom on top. In Figure 1, I have taken Ackoff’s idea and expanded it to cover the data source, and omitted understanding, placing it as an encompassing behaviour to management of data.

Figure 1: DATA, PROCESSING & MANAGEMENT

It can be summarised that data is a collation of facts, data that has been analysed will give you information, the use of information will give you the knowledge, and the maximisation of this knowledge will result in wisdom. Furthermore, the increase in understanding can shed light on facts to obtaining knowledge, and through experience we can attain wisdom. 

The simple chart above shows the interrelationship between the different degrees of data and it is about filtering noise, reducing the flow to what is clear, clean and manageable as a corporate resource. These interrelationships are not as simple as portrayed in real life. It can be more complicated than a mere flow process. Consider the following observations made by Neil Fleming (Coping with a Revolution: Will the Internet Change Learning?, Lincoln University, Canterbury, New Zealand, 1996):

• A collection of data is not information.
• A collection of information is not knowledge.
• A collection of knowledge is not wisdom.
• A collection of wisdom is not truth.

Thus, a mere collection of data is not of full value to an organisation. In our consulting assignments, we at Mining Plus, have encountered from good to bad client databases at various stages of development. It is one of our core strengths to create, audit, manage and add value to our client’s most valuable resource; data that is truthful and validated. If your company deals with data, them come and see us. 

[Originally published at Mining Plus Telegraph, Issue 15 November 2010]