Kimberlite pipes as the source of diamonds
Chimeneas de kimberlita como roca madre del diamante
- Date
- 1871-1887 · confidence high
- Place
- Kimberley, Northern Cape, South Africa
- Credited to
- Miners of Colesberg Kopje; Henry Carvill Lewis (naming, 1887)
- People
- 👤 Henry Carvill Lewis1853–1888
- Field
- Cosmos & Earth
What was discovered
Excavations showed that diamonds were not confined to alluvial deposits but occurred within vertical volcanic pipes of blue rock. It revealed that diamond comes from the deep mantle and guided all subsequent diamond exploration.
The 'Big Hole' at Kimberley opened in 1871; Carvill Lewis coined the name kimberlite in 1887.
What it led to
- deep diamond mining
- prospecting for volcanic pipes worldwide
- the study of the Earth's mantle through xenoliths