GEOTECTONIC CONTROLS OF PRIMARY DIAMOND DEPOSITS - IMPLICATIONS FOR AREA SELECTION

Area selection in modern diamond exploration should be based on (1) prediction of regions under which diamonds may have formed, (2) selection of those areas under which the diamonds may have survived until entrained by younger kimberlites or lamproites, and (3) identification of mantle-root-friendly structures which served as pathways for diamondiferous kimberlites or lamproites in the appropriate areas. Prediction of diamond-prospective areas should incorporate petrological, geochemical, geotectonic and geophysical studies to detect diamondiferous lithospheric roots under exposed and tectonically buried Archean cratons. Area selection must be guided by the concept of mantle-root-friendly and mantle-root-destructive structures and processes to constrain the geotectonic environment of diamondiferous kimberlite magmatism.