Kimberlite is an ultra rare volcanic rock best known for bearing Diamonds, named after the town of Kimberly in South Africa where the discovery of an 83.5 carat diamond in 1871 spawned a mining boom which led to the creation of "Big Hole" mine, believed to be … ... spacing found over 50 pipe-like intrusive bodies in the area.

Diamond-bearing kimberlites are volcanic rocks that originate deep in the Earth and are erupted onto the surface. Kimberlite is a bluish rock that diamond miners look for when seeking out new diamond deposits. For now, let’s look at a few of the ways that kimberlite pipes are found.

Mineral Sampling The surface area of diamond-bearing kimberlite pipes ranges from 2 to 146 hectares (5 to 361 acres). Geologists do have a few tools at their disposal to locate and identify kimberlite pipes. hosted in sediments, placid’s are secondary deposits and all diamonds were at one time or another hosted by kimberlite igneous rocks.
To begin a search for diamonds, focus on kimberlites in cratons. The specimen shown here is about two inches (five centimeters) across. See more ideas about Rocks and gems, Rough diamond, Rocks and minerals. Most are likely kimberlites based on the distinct presence of blue ground, circular to elliptical depressions that are structually controlled, and most enclosing large, rounded boulders. Pegmatite: Pegmatite is an igneous rock composed almost entirely of crystals that are over one centimeter in diameter. Kimberlite occurs in the Earth's crust in vertical structures known as kimberlite pipes, as well as igneous dykes.Kimberlite also occurs as horizontal sills. The geology of Diamonds consist of crystalline carbon although a significant proportion of diamonds are derived from placid deposits i.e.

It has a porphyritic texture, with large, often rounded crystals (phenocrysts) surrounded by a … Potentially, 10 to 12 previously unknown kimberlite districts were discovered along with the numerous kimberlites overlooked within the State Line district.

Read on for a quick look at how kimberlite pipes are formed, what they are made of and where they are found. Kimberlite, also called blue ground, a dark-coloured, heavy, often altered and brecciated (fragmented), intrusive igneous rock that contains diamonds in its rock matrix. Kimberlite pipes are the most important source of mined diamonds today. While many companies may already have an idea of where they’d like to look for diamond-bearing kimberlites, large miners may start with a broad global targeting plan, whereby areas of the world are prioritised as likely settings for the emplacement of kimberlite pipes. Once identified, the only way to test the deposit for diamonds is to sample it, a subject that I’ll discuss next week. Specimen is about 4.5 x 3.5 x 3.5 centimeters. Topaz on albite: A crystal of imperial topaz on an albite matrix from a pocket in the Katlang Pegmatite of Pakistan.
Dec 13, 2016 - Explore aaronmichae4570's board "Kimberlites" on Pinterest. 50 Years of Kimberlite Geophysics, A Review Reed, L. E. [1], Witherly, ... mounted in aircraft have proven to have the resolution needed to detect the density contrasts useful for detecting kimberlites.

Cratons are very old continental cores. Diamonds may also be found in river beds, which are called alluvial diamond sites.

It is likely hundreds of rough diamonds were also discarded by gold prospectors not knowing what diamonds looked like and others likely are in private rock hound collections waiting for someone to discover the gemstone.

Kimberlites all have feeder “magmatic plumbing” systems at depth that can be composed of a cylindrical (pipe), a planar vertical (dike), and/or a planar horizontal (sill) shape at depth.