ABSTRACT
Only four known diamond locations are near and north of the Arctic Circle. What is believed to be the oldest diamond find in this region was made in the gravels of the Pasvik River on the U.S.S.R.-Finland-Norway border. This was followed by the discovery of the northern fields of the Yakutian diamondiferous province in the U.S.S.R. Somerset Island in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago and southwestern Greenland conclude this short list.
Geographically close to the Arctic but south of the Arctic Circle are the diamond locations on the shore of the Beloye More or White Sea and in the Timan Range (U.S.S.R.), western and eastern Alaska (U.S.A.), and in the Mackenzie Mountains (Canada). Farther south and partly in the Subarctic are locations in the Ural Mountains and Yakutia (U.S.S.R.), as well as in Labrador and Saskatchewan (Canada).
While the discoveries in Canada and Greenland belong to our times, the history of the others is hidden in ancient records. For the Yakutian fields, which are of major economic importance and among the world leaders in the production of gem quality diamonds, an ancient reference dating back to 1375 is presented here for the first time.
