Tom Johnson, age 12,of East Gary, Ind., for his questions

Are there diamond mines in the United States?

The only diamond mine in North America is near Merfreesboro, Arkansas. These diamonds, however, are not gem stones. They are used as industrial diamonds where a hard, cutting edge is needed. This does not mean that there are no gem diamonds in North America. Maybe we have not oba0ched hard enough for them.

Several fine diamonds have been found in the states of Wisconsin, Michigan, Ohio and your own state of Indiana. They were found in glacial drift, the rocky debris left behind by the glaciers of the Ice Age. It is believed that the diamonds were brought down from the north as the glaciers advanced. If this is so, then there may well be a buried hoard of gem diamonds, perhaps in Central Canada