Aspects of diamond mineralisation and distribution at the Helam Mine, South Africa

The diamonds from the Swartruggens dyke swarm are mainly tetrahexahedra, with subsidiary octahedral and cuboid crystals. They are predominantly colourless, with subordinate yellows, browns, and greens. The existence of discrete cores and oscillatory growth structures within the diamonds, together with the recognition of harzburgite, lherzolite, at least two eclogitic and a websteritic diamond paragenesis, variable nitrogen contents, and both Type IaAB and Type Ib–IaA diamonds provides evidence for episodic diamond growth in at least six different environments. The predominance of plastic deformation in the diamonds, the state of nitrogen aggregation, and the suite of inclusion minerals recovered are all consistent with a xenocrystic origin for the diamonds, with the Type Ib–IaA diamonds being much younger than the rest. Mantle storage at a time-averaged temperature of ±1100 °C is inferred for the Type IaAB diamonds. The distribution of mantle xenocrysts of garnet and chromite within the high-grade Main kimberlite dyke compared to the low-grade Changehouse kimberlite dyke strongly suggests that the difference in diamond content is due to an increased eclogitic component of diamonds in the Main kimberlite dyke.     

郯庐深大断裂两侧主要矿产成矿特征研究

郯城—庐江深大断裂构造演化控制着东西两侧主要矿产的产布规律。有其相同的矿种，相似的矿床类型，但在其矿床规模上有所差异，郯庐深大断裂东侧产出大型的招掖型金矿床，大型东海型水晶矿，还有辽南瓦房店金刚石矿和宽甸蓝宝石矿；西侧产有大型的蒙阴型金刚石矿，大型昌乐型蓝宝石矿，也有沂南金矿床和大别山区麻城霍山紫水晶矿的分布。深入研究郯庐断裂构造演化与成矿特征，有望扩大找矿的前景。     

Ferropericlase—a lower mantle phase in the upper mantle

Experiments on compositions along the join MgO–NaA³⁺Si₂O₆ (A=Al, Cr, Fe³⁺) show that sodium can be incorporated into ferropericlase at upper mantle pressures in amounts commonly found in natural diamond inclusions. These results, combined with the observed mineral parageneses of several diamond inclusion suites, establish firmly that ferropericlase exists in the upper mantle in regions with low silica activity. Such regions may be carbonated dunite or stalled and degassed carbonatitic melts. Ferropericlase as an inclusion in diamond on its own is not indicative of a lower mantle origin or of a deep mantle plume. Coexisting phases have to be taken into consideration to decide on the depth of origin. The composition of olivine will indicate an origin from the upper mantle or border of the transition zone to the lower mantle and whether it coexisted with ferropericlase in the upper mantle or as ringwoodite. The narrow and flat three phase loop at the border transition zone—lower mantle together with hybrid peridotite plus eclogite/sediments provides an explanation for the varying and Fe-rich nature of the diamond inclusion suite from Sao Luiz, Brazil.     

辽东半岛南部原生金刚石特征

辽东半岛南部金刚石在含矿程度不同的金伯利岩岩管中,其主要物理特征和包体成分等是不同的。富矿金伯利岩体中金刚石的特征是颜色种类较多,晶形复杂(以曲面菱形十二面体为主),颗粒粗大,蚀象发育;含包体成分复杂。贫矿金伯利岩体中的金刚石颜色种类少,晶形单一(以平面八面体为主),颗粒细小,蚀象不发育;包体成分简单。高温碱熔试验与热台测定结果表明金刚石晶体形态的演化过程,盆刚石从650℃开始熔解,即八面体晶棱和顶角出现钝化,在温度不断升高时八面体所有晶棱逐渐熔解变为晶面,进而形成曲面菱形十二面体。因此可以推断,金刚石曲面菱形十二面体的初始晶形应是八面体晶形。金刚石包体中的镁铝榴石与金伯利岩中斑晶镁铝榴石的化学成分是一致的,说明二者来自同一岩浆源。     

Kinetics of the graphite–diamond transformation in aqueous fluid determined by in-situ X-ray diffractions at high pressures and temperatures

The graphite-diamond transformation was investigated by in situ time-resolved X-ray diffraction experiments using aqueous fluid containing dissolved MgO as the diamond-forming catalyst under conditions of 6.6–8.9 GPa and 1400–1835 °C. The transformed volume fractions of diamond as a function of time under various pressure-temperature conditions were obtained and analyzed using the JMAK rate equation. Variations in the nucleation and growth processes during diamond formation as a function of pressure and temperature were clarified.     

Phonon density of states in iron at high pressures and high temperatures

The phonon density of states (DOS) in iron has been measured in situ by nuclear resonance inelastic X-ray scattering (NRIXS) at high pressures and high temperatures in a resistively heated diamond anvil cell. The DOS data provide a variety of thermodynamic and elastic parameters essential for characterizing iron at depth in the Earth interior, such as average sound velocity, Debye temperature, atomic mean square displacement, average kinetic energy, vibrational entropy and specific heat. The NRIXS data were collected at 6, 20, and 29 GPa and at temperatures up to 920 K. Temperatures were directly determined from the measured spectra by the ratio of intensities of the phonon creation/annihilation side bands that are determined only by the Boltzmann factor. The change of the DOS caused by the structural transition from -Fe to -Fe is small and not resolvable within the experimental precision. However, the phonon energies in -Fe are clearly shifted to lower values with respect to - and -Fe. The temperature dependence of derived thermodynamic parameters is presented and compared with those obtained by Debyes model. The Debye temperatures that best describe the data decrease slightly with increasing temperature.     

Kimberlite-hosted diamond deposits of southern Africa: A review

Following the discovery of diamonds in river deposits in central South Africa in the mid nineteenth century, it was at Kimberley where the volcanic origin of diamonds was first recognized. These volcanic rocks, that were named “kimberlite”, were to become the corner stone of the economic and industrial development of southern Africa. Following the discoveries at Kimberley, even more valuable deposits were discovered in South Africa and Botswana in particular, but also in Lesotho, Swaziland and Zimbabwe.A century of study of kimberlites, and the diamonds and other mantle-derived rocks they contain, has furthered the understanding of the processes that occurred within the sub-continental lithosphere and in particular the formation of diamonds. The formation of kimberlite-hosted diamond deposits is a long-lived and complex series of processes that first involved the growth of diamonds in the mantle, and later their removal and transport to the earth's surface by kimberlite magmas. Dating of inclusions in diamonds showed that diamond growth occurred several times over geological time. Many diamonds are of Archaean age and many of these are peridotitic in character, but suites of younger Proterozoic diamonds have also been recognized in various southern African mines. These younger ages correspond with ages of major tectono-thermal events that are recognized in crustal rocks of the sub-continent. Most of these diamonds had eclogitic, websteritic or lherzolitic protoliths.In southern Africa, kimberlite eruptions occurred as discrete events several times during the geological record, including the Early and Middle Proterozoic, the Cambrian, the Permian, the Jurassic and the Cretaceous. Apart from the Early Proterozoic (Kuruman) kimberlites, all of the other events have produced deposits that have been mined. It should however be noted that only about 1% of the kimberlites that have been discovered have been successfully exploited.In this paper, 34 kimberlite mines are reviewed with regard to their geology, mantle xenolith, xenocryst and diamond characteristics and production statistics. These mines vary greatly in size, grade and diamond-value, as well as in the proportions and types of mantle mineral suites that they contain. They include some of the world's richest mines, such as Jwaneng in Botswana, to mines that are both small and marginal, such as the Frank Smith Mine in South Africa. They include large diatremes such as Orapa and small dykes such as those mined at Bellsbank, Swartruggens and near Theunissen. These mines are all located on the Archaean Kalahari Craton, and it is apparent that the craton and its associated sub-continental lithosphere played an important role in providing the right environment for diamond growth and for the formation of the kimberlite magmas that were to transport them to the surface.     

流体包裹体压力计研究之二:高温高压下碳氢化合物的拉曼光谱

在温度23～315℃、压力高达近2000MPa下用金刚石压腔下研究了正庚烷、环己烷及其混合物的拉曼光谱特征。结果表明：环己烷和正庚烷混合,只是改变了环己烷及正庚烷的平均C-H伸缩振动的拉曼位移,但是并不影响其P-△^-vp关系式。另外,经过数据拟合,得到了平均C-H伸缩振动的拉曼位移与压力的关系为：P=78．21（△^-vp）＋71．56。该公式可以用来作为流体包裹体尤其是油气包裹体的压力计。     

Diamond precipitation from ascending reduced fluids in the Kaapvaal lithosphere: Thermodynamic constraints

Previous research has shown that the Kaapvaal lithospheric mantle is generally reduced and characterised by a decreasing redox state with increasing depth. As a consequence, C-O-H fluids in the Kaapvaal lithospheric mantle are dominated by H₂O, CH₄, and C₂H₆. Thermodynamic calculations demonstrate that diamond precipitation from such a fluid during ascend is possible as it is exposed to a more oxidised environment and both CH₄ and C₂H₆ are oxidised. However, the calculations also demonstrate that the diamond precipitation potential from such a fluid decreases when: (1) the mantle is either more reduced or oxidised compared to the Kaapvaal mantle, or (2) the change in temperature with pressure is smaller compared to that of the Kaapvaal mantle. Therefore, the presence of reduced mantle fluid species and a generally decreasing oxygen fugacity with increasing depth do not necessarily warrant diamond precipitation from a rising reduced fluid.