ARTYKUŁY INFORMACYJNE Złoża kimberlitowe i aluwialne w rejonie Kimberley – 155 lat od odkrycia diamentów w Afryce Południowej

Abstract

Kimberlite and alluvial deposits in the Kimberley region – 155 years after the diamond discovery in South Africa.A b s t r a c t. For 155 years, the world’s most famous diamond deposits have been known from South Africa. The first discoveries that had a casual character took place in the second half of the 19th century in the Kimberley region where diamonds are associated either with kimberlite pipes or occur as secondary deposits of the river alluvia. Minerals that formed in the upper mantle under high p-T conditions were transported to the surface by magmas and deposited around craters due to lava explosions. Surfice waters leached and transported diamonds either to the crater or to the neighbourhood. These processes have led to diamond production both from the deep and open-pit mines which is presented in the paper.