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COLORADO |
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Kelsey Lake Diamond Mine The Kelsey Lake Diamond Mine was the only commercial diamond mine in the US. Kelsey Lake closed in 1999, but plans are in progress to reopen. More than 1000 carats of diamonds were removed in 3 years, including two 28 carat gem-grade diamonds. |
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Kelsey Lake Kimberlite State Line District, Larimer County, Colorado Note the nice serpentinized phenocryst, bottom right. |
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Kelsey
Lake Kimberlite Crush Kimberlite is crushed and sorted. The "heavies" remain in the concentrate which is inspected for diamonds. KIMs in the Kelsey Lake Kimberlite include red pyrope garnets and silver metallic ilmenite. |
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Series
of Five Kelsey Diamonds A range in crystal forms from octahedrons to macles is shown. These aren't mine, but I sure wish they were! Photo courtesy of Eric Miller. |
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Kelsey
Lake Diamond Gem-quality 0.60 carat Kelsey diamond showing the typical octahedral crystal habit of diamonds. |
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2 Kelsey
Lake Diamonds Two Kelsey diamonds, each about 0.25 carats. The diamond on the left is an octahedral twin and the diamond on the right shows a rounded octahedral crystal habit. |
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Sloan Diatreme Kimberlite State Line District, Larimer County, Colorado Diamonds have been found in the Sloan Pipes, but not enough to be economically mined. |
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Sloan Diatreme Kimberlite Prospecting efforts got as far as building a processing plant, but even it is now closed. |
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Sloan Diatreme Kimberlite Another sample. |
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Sloan Diamond A rare diamond from the Sloan Diatreme obtained from the mine's geologist. |
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Chicken Park Kimberlite State Line District, Larimer County, Colorado |
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Rabbit Ears Lamproite Rabbit Ears Pass, Middle Park, Grand County, Colorado |
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Green
Mountain Kimberlite Green Mountain, Boulder County, Colorado The Green Mountain Kimberlite is south of the State Line District and is not a diamondiferous kimberlite. |
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Mantle Basalt with Olivine Fragments Nathrope, Chaffee County, Colorado Not a kimberlite, but still a neat volcanic rock from Colorado. Olivine is a KIM when in kimberlites. |
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WYOMING, MONTANA, UTAH, AND ARIZONA |
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Indian Guide District Kimberlite (also known as Iron Mountain), Albany County, Wyoming |
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Indian Guide District Kimberlite (also known as Iron Mountain) A different sample. |
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Lone Tree "Kimberlite" Cedar Mountain, Sweetriver County, Wyoming Silica-rich pipe breccia, perhaps a "hole swipe" (mjwy) as the kimberlite fused with crustal materials on its way up to the surface. |
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Unnamed Kimberlite
Unknown location, Central Wyoming |
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Leucite Hills Wyomingite Sweetwater County, Wyoming Also known as Fitzroyite in Australia where it is the source of the "Argyle Pinks". Alas, probably no pink diamonds in the US deposit. Wyomingite is still much rarer than kimberlite or lamproite. |
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Diamond from the Argyle Diamond Mine, Australia Okay, this little 0.25 carat diamond is actually from Australia. However, the source rock for the Argyle Diamonds is Fitzroyite, also know as Wyomingite in the United States. |
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Boar's Tusk
Wyomingite Leucite Hills District, Sweetwater County, Wyoming |
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Smoky Butte Lamproite Smoky Butte, Garfield County, Montana |
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Homestead Kimberlite Near Lewistown, Fergus County, Montana The Homestead Kimberlite is being worked by Delta Mining and Exploration. The first in-situ Montana diamond was found in the Homestead Kimberlite. |
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Alhambra Kimberlite Alhambra Area, San Juan County, Utah |
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Alhambra Kimberlite Alhambra Area, San Juan County, Utah |
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Leucite Lamproite Undisclosed location, Arizona This lamproite is currently being assayed for diamonds. |
| MICHIGAN AND WISCONSIN | |||
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Lake Ellen Kimberlite NE of Crystal Falls, Iron County, Michigan Discovered in 1971, the Lake Ellen kimberlite does contain micro-diamonds (< 1mm). This sample has a nice serpentized olivine. |
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Weathered Lake Ellen Kimberlite Notice how the color of this kimberlite changes to yellow when it becomes weathered. |
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Iron County Kimberlite Undisclosed location on private property, Iron County, Michigan |
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Wisconsin Kimberlite Undisclosed location on private property, Wisconsin |
| THE MID-ATLANTIC STATES | |||
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Ithaca Kimberlite Cascadilla Gorge Dike, Ithaca, Tompkins County, New York |
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Gates-Adah Dike Kimberlite Middle Run, near Masontown, Fayette County, Pennsylvania Yes, Pennsylvania actually has at least two kimberlites! Nice pyrope in this one. Some of the pyropes in the GA are color-changing depending on the light. |
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Gates-Adah
Dike Kimberlite Nice phlogopite mica phenocryst in this one! |
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Gates-Adah
Dike Kimberlite Notice the large chunk of white calcite in the middle of this sample. |
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Dixonville-Tanoma
Kimberlite Tanoma Coal Mine, Tanoma Indiana County, Pennsylvania Pennsylvania's other kimberlite. This kimberlite was discovered deep underground in a coal mine. The surface outcrop has not been found. |
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Weathered Dixonville-Tanoma Kimberlite Notice again how the color changes when the kimberlite has weathered. |
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Elliott County Kimberlite Near Ison Creek, Elliott County, Kentucky |
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Mt. Horeb Kimberlite Mole Hill, near Staunton, Rockbridge County, Virginia |
| ARKANSAS AND THE CRATER OF DIAMONDS PARK | |||
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Blue
Ball Lamproite Eastern Scott County, Arkansas Near Crater of Diamonds State Park |
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Prairie Creek Lamproite Pike County, Arkansas Located in Crater of Diamonds State Park where tourists can prospect for diamonds. |
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Blue
Breciated Tuff (Lamproite) Pike County, Arkansas, southern most known pipe, Crater of Diamonds State Park |
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Blue
Tuff (Lamproite) Pike County, Arkansas, southern most known pipe, Crater of Diamonds State Park |
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Arkansas Diamond Approximately 0.10 carat diamond from the Crater of Diamonds State Park in Arkansas. |
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For
more information on the Crater of Diamonds, Arkansas past and current
diamond exploration information, and great rough diamond pics, check out
this book. I love it! They also have a how to DVD for
searching at the crater of diamonds. http://www.diamondsinar.com/ |
| CANADA AND RUSSIA | |||
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Jericho Pipe Kimberlite Near Contwoyto Lake, Northwest Territories, Canada Canada's third diamond mine just opened on the Jericho Pipe on August 17, 2006 and is owned by the Tahera Diamond Corp. |
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Jericho Pipe Kimberlite Look at the size of this chrome diopside! A nice silver ilmenite on the reverse too. |
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Jericho Pipe Kimberlite Tiffany's is the exclusive distributor for Jericho diamonds. Isn't this garnet just a little stunner? |
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Jericho Pipe Kimberlite All of these samples were hand collected back in the exploration days. Thanks Rick! |
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Coarse
Kimberlite Crush, Diavik Mine Lac de Gras, Northwest Territories, Canada KIM's include chrome diopside, phlogopite mica, and pyrope garnets. |
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Fine
Kimberlite Crush, Diavik Mine Diavik is the exclusive supplier for Harry Winston Jewelers. |
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Unnamed Canadian Kimberlite This kimberlite is unexplored and untested from a location on private land near the Great Slave Lake between Hay River and Providence, NWT, Canada. |
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Mir
(Myr) Pipe Kimberlite Mirney, Saha Republic, Eastern Siberia Region, Russia This kimberlite has a real diamond in it. The bad news - it was probably "assembled". Anyway, nice phenocrysts in this one too. |
