Reuters: Prophecy of diamonds keeps Israeli firm digging

(Reuters) - Somewhere in the Carmel hills of northern Israel, diamond exploration company Shefa Yamim hopes to uncover the exact spot where faith meets science.

Inspired by the words of a revered rabbi who prophesized that precious stones were divinely buried in the area, the firm has been mining for about a decade along the steep hills and lush valleys that surround the city of Haifa.

Now, Shefa Yamim, the first and only diamond explorer in Israel, says it has found strong signs that significant diamond deposits are indeed hidden in the Holy Land, surprising many who had dismissed the mission as a pipe dream.

Potential new mines are big news in an industry that gets most of its diamonds from 20 or so mines, and where no large discovery has been made in 15 years.

Israel has long been a global leader for polishing diamonds, but it was never considered to be a possible source for rough diamonds, which it imports from abroad. Top Israeli diamond dealers even have their own mining operations in Africa but with booming demand for the gems driven by prosperity in China and India there are certain to be many more speculative projects.

Shefa Yamim's workers have dug up thousands of geological indicators -- including 77 macro and micro-diamonds -- in their trenches and boreholes, said Chief Executive Avi Taub.

"It's a mission ... We're talking about divine providence," Taub, an Orthodox Jew who wears a skullcap and a long, white beard, told Reuters at the company's offices in the coastal city of Akko. "I hope I'm going to have the right to reveal it."

In 1999, Taub founded Shefa Yamim, which means "bounty of the seas

In 1999, Taub founded Shefa Yamim, which means "bounty of the seas" in Hebrew, based on a conversation that took place 11 years earlier in Brooklyn, New York between the late Rabbi Menachem Schneerson and the then mayor of Haifa. The dialogue was caught on video.

"The uniqueness of Haifa is that it has a sea and it has a valley -- and in the valley are precious stones and gems. The holy one, blessed be he, did a wondrous thing, he concealed them in the depths of the earth," the rabbi told his visitor.

Many of Schneerson's followers believe him to be the messiah, making the comments a decree of sorts, and Taub answered the call.

FAITH, FACT AND EXPLORATION

Religious belief and biblical verse have inspired others to search for natural resources in the Holy Land. continue...