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Kimberlite is an igneous rock, which sometimes contains diamonds. It is named after the town of Kimberley in South Africa, where the discovery of an 83.5-carat (16.70 g) diamond called the Star of South Africa in 1869 spawned a diamond rush and the digging of the open-pit mine called the Big Hole. Previously, the term kimberlite has been applied to olivine lamproites as Kimberlite II, however this has been in error.
The Ekati Diamond Mine ("Ekati") is Canada's first surface and underground diamond mine. It is located 310 km (190 mi) north-east of Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, and about 200 km (120 mi) south of the Arctic Circle, near Lac de Gras. Until 2014 Ekati was a joint venture between Dominion Diamond Mines (80%), and the two geologists who discovered kimberlite pipes north of Lac de Gras, Chuck Fipke and Stewart Blusson each holding a 10% stake in the mine, until Fipke sold his share to Dominion.
A diatreme, sometimes known as a maar-diatreme volcano, is a volcanic pipe formed by a gaseous explosion. When magma rises up through a crack in Earth's crust and makes contact with a shallow body of groundwater, rapid expansion of heated water vapor and volcanic gases can cause a series of explosions. A relatively shallow crater is left, and a rock-filled fracture in the crust. Diatremes breach the surface and produce a steep, inverted cone shape.
Volcanic activity is a major part of the geology of Canada and is characterized by many types of volcanic landform, including lava flows, volcanic plateaus, lava domes, cinder cones, stratovolcanoes, shield volcanoes, submarine volcanoes, calderas, diatremes, and maars, along with less common volcanic forms such as tuyas and subglacial mounds.
The Lake Timiskaming kimberlite field is Canada's southernmost kimberlite field, located in Northeastern Ontario and western Quebec, Canada. It is within the Lake Timiskaming Structural Zone which contains over 50 kimberlite pipes, several of which are diamondiferous. The Lake Timiskaming kimberlite field formed about 147 million years ago when the North American Plate moved westward over the long-lived New England hotspot, also referred to as the Great Meteor hotspot.
The Gahcho Kué kimberlite pipes is a cluster of Cambrian kimberlite diatremes located 280 km (174 mi) northeast of Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, Canada. It consists of five pipes: 5034, Hearne, Wilson, Tuzo and Tesla.
The Phoenix pipe is a diatreme associated with the Birch Mountains kimberlite field in northern Alberta, Canada. It is thought to have formed about 75 million years ago when this part of Alberta was volcanically active during the Late Cretaceous period.
The Attawapiskat kimberlite field is a field of kimberlite pipes located astride the Attawapiskat River in the Hudson Bay Lowlands, in Northern Ontario, Canada. It is thought to have formed about 180 million years ago in the Jurassic period when the North American Plate moved westward over a centre of upwelling magma called the New England hotspot, also referred to as the Great Meteor hotspot.
The Legend pipe is a diatreme associated with the Birch Mountains kimberlite field in northern Alberta, Canada. It is thought to have formed about 75 million years ago during the Late Cretaceous period.
The Xena pipe is a diatreme associated with the Birch Mountains kimberlite field in northern Alberta, Canada. It is thought to have formed about 75 million years ago when this part of Alberta was volcanically active during the Late Cretaceous period.
The Dragon pipe is a diatreme associated with the Birch Mountains kimberlite field in northern Alberta, Canada. It is thought to have formed about 75 million years ago when this part of Alberta was volcanically active during the Late Cretaceous period.
The Buffalo Head Hills kimberlite field is a group of kimberlitic volcanic pipes or diatremes in north-central Alberta, Canada. As of 2011, 41 kimberlite pipes, of which 28 are diamondiferous, had been identified in the field. They were emplaced during Late Cretaceous to early Paleocene time.
The Birch Mountains kimberlite field is a cluster of kimberlitic volcanic pipes or diatremes in north-central Alberta, Canada that were emplaced during a period of kimberlitic volcanism in the Late Cretaceous epoch. As of 2011, 8 diatremes had been discovered in the field, and diamonds and microdiamononds had been recovered during sampling programs.
The Fort à la Corne kimberlite field is a 104- to 95-million-year-old diamond-bearing kimberlite field in east-central Saskatchewan, Canada. Its kimberlite pipes are among the most complete examples in the world, preserving maar-shaped craters.
The Northern Alberta Kimberlite Province (NAKP) consists of three groups of diatremes or volcanic pipes in north-central Alberta, Canada, most of which are kimberlites and some of which are diamondiferous. They are called the Birch Mountains (BM), Buffalo Head Hills (BHH), and the Mountain Lake cluster (ML), and they were discovered between about 1990 and 1997. Most of the diatremes were emplaced during the Late Cretaceous Epoch although a few are as young as early Paleocene.
K19 pipe is a diatreme in the southwestern part of the Buffalo Head Hills kimberlite field in Northern Alberta, Canada. It is thought to have formed about 60 million years ago, making it one of the youngest volcanic formations in the Buffalo Head Hills kimberlite field and in Alberta. Unlike many other diatremes in the Buffalo Head Hills kimberlite field, it contains low diamond content.
The Lac de Gras kimberlite field is a group of Late Cretaceous to Eocene age diatremes in the Northwest Territories, Canada.
The Mountain Lake cluster consists of two diatremes or volcanic pipes in Northern Alberta, Canada. It was emplaced during a period of kimberlite volcanism in the Late Cretaceous epoch.
The Churchill kimberlite field is a kimberlite field near Hudson Bay in Nunavut, Canada. It was formed during three magmatic events between 225 and 170 million years ago. The proposed source of volcanism has been the New England and Cape Verde hotspots.
The volcanology of Eastern Canada includes the hundreds of volcanic areas and extensive lava formations in Eastern Canada. The region's different volcano and lava types originate from different tectonic settings and types of volcanic eruptions, ranging from passive lava eruptions to violent explosive eruptions. Eastern Canada has very large volumes of magmatic rock called large igneous provinces. They are represented by deep-level plumbing systems consisting of giant dike swarms, sill provinces and layered intrusions. The most capable large igneous provinces in Eastern Canada are Archean age greenstone belts containing a rare volcanic rock called komatiite.
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