Developing innovative mineralogical tools to assess diamond stability in the lithosphere

The new ARC Linkage project aims to develop and apply new mineralogical tools for diamond exploration. The Industry Partner is AMIRA International. We will investigate the critical link between lithospheric oxygen fugacity and diamond grade, using high pressure experimentation to develop a new oxybarometer applicable to garnet peridotite xenoliths entrained in kimberlite. This will provide cost benefits to industry by enabling improved targeting of particular kimberlite pipes for diamond grade assessment. Secondly, we will develop and test an innovative minor element based geobarometer for eclogite xenoliths entrained in some kimberlites. This will allow assessment of the depth interval of sampling of the lithosphere by particular eclogite-bearing kimberlites, another important control on potential diamond grade.