THE international diamond industry has found its next big destination, and it's the land of the Nizams. Geological findings in seven districts of Andhra Pradesh have shown up extensive diamond deposits which, naturally, has got the big boys interested. Already, seven companies have applied for prospecting licences (42 in all) covering a land base of over 1,495 sq km. This includes big players like De Beers, Rio Tinto (cra Exploration India Pvt Ltd), Crown Tech Services and Mines Management, Geo-Mysore Services India Pvt Ltd, amil Mining India Pvt Ltd, the National Mines Development Corporation (nmdc) and Mines Management Pvt Ltd. The latest sparkler rush was triggered off by the discovery of an abundance of kimberlite pipes (runnel-like rock formations which are the primary source of diamonds). Vijay Prasad Dimri, director, National Geophysical Research Institute (ngri), says 120 kimberlite pipes have been detected in AP, a "hugely inspiring" figure for prospectors given the national find is just 150. Normally, only 5-6 per cent of kimberlite pipes contain diamonds but the percentage is much higher in Andhra. Dimri says the ngri, which did exploration work in Anantapur district, can vouch for at least 20 diamondiferous (diamond-bearing) kimberlite pipes in the region. The Geological Survey of India (gsi) also recently discovered 23 'pipes' in various parts of the state. Among the firms in the field, diamond major De Beers tops the list, having applied for 16 prospecting licences (PLs) over 495.76 sq km in Anantapur, Kurn-ool, Prakasam and Mahbubnagar. UK-based Rio Tinto, the world's second largest diamond mining firm, has applied for 10 PLs in Anantapur and Kurnool over 639.50 sq km; nmdc has applied for nine PLs in Anantapur; amil Mining has sought five PLs (24.87 sq km) in Anantapur, Kurnool and Kadapa; Geo-Mysore Services wants four PLs (164 sq km) in Kadapa, Chittoor, Anantapur and Nellore, and Crown Tech Services and Mines Management Pvt Ltd have sought one PL each. At the prospecting stage, companies mainly go for drilling operations where they bring out sub-surface rocks, analyse them for incidence of diamonds and their commercial viability. Even 4-5 carat per 100 tonne is considered profitable. V.D. Rajag-opal, MD, Andhra Pradesh Mineral Development Corporation (apmdc), says some firms are already forecasting 6 carats on an average