The process of creating diamonds, or isolates, from cannabis concentrates, most commonly THCA diamonds. Live Resin is commonly used, though other extracts can be mined for diamonds. Diamond mining usually takes up to three weeks, but can go faster depending on the concentrate used.
“I love live resin because if I don’t dab it fast enough, I’ll get diamonds.”
What is diamond mining?
Diamond mining is the intentional process of causing a concentrate to form into diamonds, most commonly THCA diamonds. The technical name for this process is “recrystallization,” because cannabinoids reform into crystals.
Cannabis concentrates aren’t stable and often change consistency over time. For example, shatter can become a sugar, due to exposure to heat and humidity; over time, live resin can turn into a terp sauce—a liquid substance filled with cannabinoids that have recrystallized into diamonds.
According to Ed Rosenthal, “Shatter made from live resin has a higher terpene concentration than cured resin, which tends to be more susceptible to nucleation, creating terp sugar or budder after it has been packaged.” This nucleation causes the recrystallization of cannabinoids and the separation of terpenes into a terp sauce.
The downside of this separation is that terpenes end up in a more volatile state and evaporate faster—if you plan to create diamonds, be sure to consume them before the terps evaporate.
The process can take up to three weeks but can go quicker depending on the concentrate used. Ed Rosenthal offers a method of diamond mining that works on larger batches of concentrate, rather than doing it one jar at a time.