In our imagination diamonds are usually associated with comfortable wealth, grace and elegance. Yet the way in which diamonds have “come into being” – hurled into the air, oozed out in lava flows, into a poisonous environment no man can withstand – is anything but elegant.
Enter the Kimberlite volcanoes – the most important source of primary diamonds. Kimberlite volcanoes are not the kind that involves mountains with smoke and fire; they are deep holes in the ground, full of crystalized magma. When the Kimberlite magma approaches the surface, a vertical column of rock known as a Kimberlite pipe comes discharging and then falls in a ring around a crater on the surface.
Approximately one out of 200 Kimberlite volcanoes contains diamonds. In 1871, an 83.5 carat diamond was discovered near the town of Kimberley in South Africa, spawning a diamond rush and giving these volcanoes their name.
Almost all Kimberlites have already erupted millions of years ago. According to minning.com, about 6,400 kimberlite pipes have been discovered worldwide, 30 of which were found to contain diamonds.
