Bort — Mediated Wiki

{{Short description|Shards of non-gem-quality diamonds}} {{About|the mineral or gem}} {{Redirect|Boart|the mineral exploration company|Boart Longyear}} {{Infobox mineral | name = Bort (also ''boort'' or ''boart'') | image = File:Diamond-270244.jpg | imagesize =  | alt = mixed clump of both gem and non-gem grade (bort) particles | caption = A mixture of bort and gem diamonds {{nowrap|(larger inclusions)}} from the {{nowrap|Crater of Diamonds State Park}} | category = Mineral variety | formula = C | molweight = | strunz = | dana = | system = | class = | unit cell = | color = Varies (white to yellowish in powder form, yellow to brownish in larger shards) | colour = | habit = | twinning = | cleavage = | fracture = | tenacity = | mohs = | luster = | streak = | diaphaneity = | gravity = | density = | polish = | opticalprop = | refractive = | birefringence = | pleochroism = | 2V = | dispersion = | extinction = | length fast/slow = | fluorescence = | absorption = | melt = | fusibility = | diagnostic = | solubility = | impurities = | alteration = | var1 = Similar occurrences | var1text = {{bulletedlist | Diamond | Ballas | Graphite | Carbon | Carbonado | Coal }} | prop1 = Use/purpose | prop1text = {{bulletedlist | Diamond industry | Abrasive | Polishing | Lubricant (as oil additive) }} | var2 = | var2text = | references = }}

'''Bort''', '''boart''', or '''boort''' is an umbrella term used in the diamond industry to refer to shards of non-gem-grade/quality diamonds. In the manufacturing and heavy industries, "bort" is used to describe dark, imperfectly formed or crystallized diamonds of varying levels of opacity. The word is ultimately Dutch and is related to the English term for drilling, ''to bore''.<ref>{{Citation |title=bort |date=2025-02-02 |publisher=Wiktionary, the free dictionary |url=https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/bor |access-date=2025-04-24 |language=en}}</ref> The lowest grade, "crushing bort", is crushed by steel mortars and used to make industrial-grade abrasive grits. Small bort crystals are used in drill bits. The Democratic Republic of the Congo provides 75% of the world supply of crushing bort.<ref name="Spear" /><ref name="Brit_1" /><ref name="Brit_2" />

== Use and application == Bort is commonly used as an abrasive. Smaller flakes and particles are used as an additive for scouring or polishing pastes and agents. Larger particles can be added to cutting, drilling and grinding tools to improve their lifespan and substantially increase their efficiency.<ref name="usage_1" />

Bort particles varying from one to two nanometers<ref name="sn-1" /> are added to lubricants such as paraffin oil. These particles will embed themselves into minute irregularities and imperfections of moving-part surfaces. Particles that remain suspended in the lubricant oil act as both a polishing agent, further smoothening the surfaces, and as ball bearings between the surfaces. Such nanotechnology applications with paraffin oil containing approximately 1% of these nano-size bort particles may decrease the friction up to half of that without the nano-particles.<ref name="aiche.org-1" /><ref name="nrc.nl-1" />

<gallery widths=200 heights=160> File:Diamant.jpg|Bort-like heavily twinned diamond from Congo File:Necklace made of rough diamonds.jpg|Necklace made of cut-off chips and low-quality rough diamonds </gallery>

== See also == {{Portal|Geology|Minerals}} * Ballas * Carbonado (black diamond) * Rough diamond * Synthetic diamond

== References == {{Reflist|refs= <ref name="Spear">{{cite book |last1= Spear |first1= K.E |last2= Dismukes |first2= J.P. |title= Synthetic Diamond: Emerging CVD Science and Technology |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=RR5HF25DB7UC |page= 628 |publisher= Wiley–IEEE |year= 1994 |isbn= 0-471-53589-3 |url-status= live |archiveurl= https://web.archive.org/web/20150425115752/http://books.google.com/books?id=RR5HF25DB7UC |archivedate= 2015-04-25 }}</ref> <ref name="Brit_1">"[http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/287017/industrial-diamond?anchor=ref71892 Industrial diamond]". ''Encyclopædia Britannica''.</ref> <ref name="Brit_2">"[https://www.britannica.com/topic/bort Bort]". ''Encyclopædia Britannica''.</ref> <ref name="usage_1">{{Cite book | publisher=Mines Bureau | url= https://books.google.com/books?id=zyKCNW0BHm8C&q=use+of+bort+as+abrasive+polisher+and+on+drilling+and+sawing+tools&pg=SA21-PA2 | title= Minerals Yearbook Metals and Minerals 2010 Volume I | pages= 21–22 | date= 2010 | accessdate=December 30, 2018 | isbn= 978-1-4113-3449-6 | archivedate= December 30, 2018 | archiveurl= https://web.archive.org/web/20181230142508/https://books.google.nl/books?id=zyKCNW0BHm8C&pg=SA21-PA2&lpg=SA21-PA2&dq=use+of+bort+as+abrasive+polisher+and+on+drilling+and+sawing+tools&source=bl&ots=gyGJyiwFeY&sig=qfnq6I08pJFifL8bGZ08jsMgLs4&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjcruDt3cffAhWKbVAKHYgoDFMQ6AEwDXoECAcQAQ | url-status= live }}</ref> <ref name="aiche.org-1">{{cite web | first= Jason | last= Ballengee | url= https://www.aiche.org/sites/default/files/community/258271/aiche-community-site-page/258701/january-aichepresentation-pdf.pdf | date= 2016 | title= Nanodiamond and Lubrication Applications | website= aiche.org | publisher= SP3 NANOTECH, LLC | archiveurl= https://web.archive.org/web/20181206102553/https://www.aiche.org/sites/default/files/community/258271/aiche-community-site-page/258701/january-aichepresentation-pdf.pdf | archivedate= December 6, 2018 | access-date= December 6, 2018 | url-status= live }}</ref> <ref name="sn-1">Scientific notation in SI unit(s): 1–2 × 10−9 m.</ref> <ref name="nrc.nl-1">{{Cite news |last=Beekman |first=George |url= https://www.nrc.nl/nieuws/1997/01/04/betere-smering-met-behulp-van-zeer-fijn-diamantpoeder-7337586-a498147 | title= Betere smering met behulp van zeer fijn diamantpoeder |trans-title=Better lubrication using diamond powder of very small particles | lang= Dutch | website= nrc.nl | publisher= NRC Handelsblad | date= January 6, 1997 | access-date= December 6, 2018 | archivedate= December 6, 2018 | archiveurl= https://web.archive.org/web/20181206093103/https://www.nrc.nl/nieuws/1997/01/04/betere-smering-met-behulp-van-zeer-fijn-diamantpoeder-7337586-a498147 | url-status= live }}</ref> }}

== External links == {{EB1911 poster|Bort}} * {{Wiktionary-inline}}

Category:Diamond