Ellendale Diamond Field
The Ellendale Diamond Field is located in the West Kimberly region of Australia and was once the source of up to 50% of the world's supply of Fancy Yellow diamonds.[1] These diamonds were mostly mined from 2 open-pit mines targeting the Ellendale 4 (E4) and Ellendale 9 (E9) lamprorite pipes. Ellendale's volcanic pipes intruded during the Miocene age between 22 and 19 Ma and nearly 50 lamproites have been mapped within the Ellendale field. The lamproite intrusions are either leucite or olivine rich, with 60% being diamondiferous. The Ellendale field covers an area of some 40 km by 10 km along a north-west-trending Lennard Shelf.[2][not in citation given][3]
Scientific significance
Until the discovery of diamonds in the E4 and E9 lamprorite pipes, it was believed that Kimberlite was the only economic source of diamonds in the world. The Ellendale discovery led to intense regional diamond exploration and the discovery of the Argyle lamprorite diamond mine in the adjacent East Kimberley region.
References
- ↑ "New lease of life for former Ellendale diamond mine". Archived from the original on 2020-08-12. Retrieved 2020-09-20.
- ↑ McClay, K. R. (March 1992). "F. E. Hughes (Ed.). Geology of the Mineral Deposits of Australia and Papua New Guinea (2 volumes). Parkville, Victoria, (Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy". Mineralogical Magazine. 56 (382): 136–137. doi:10.1180/minmag.1992.056.382.31. ISSN 0026-461X.
- ↑ "Volcanology and Geochemistry of the Ellendale Lamproite Field (Western Australia)". International Kimberlite Conference Extended Abstracts: 1991. University of Alberta. 1991. doi:10.29173/ikc2581. ISBN 978-1-55195-417-2.
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