Vargem 1 kimberlite, Santo Inácio River valley, Coromandel, Coromandel mining district, Minas Gerais, Brazil
Weathered kimberlite with xenoliths of country rocks, mostly schists from the Araxá Group. The Vargem-1 kimberlite pipe is the first kimberlite discovered in Brazil in 1969.
Coromandel mining district, Minas Gerais, Brazil
Microcrystaline aggregate of gorceixite from Coromandel. Mineral named by Hussak in honor of Professor Claude Henri Gorceix, founder and the first Director of School of Mines of Ouro Preto, now part of the Federal University of Ouro Preto.
Santo Inácio River valley, Coromandel, Coromandel mining district, Minas Gerais, Brazil
Satellite image from Google Earth showing an extensive swath of alluvial diamond quarries along the St. Inácio River. "Vargem-1" marks the location of a deeply-weathered kimberlite body. Early analyses of garnets from the kimberlite suggested it was not a likely source of diamonds, but a recent study (Chaves, 2012) showed some garnets in the G10 ...
© Norman King
A small pit excavated to show the characteristics of this kimberlite. Post-congress field trip from 6th Brazilian Diamond Geology Symposium at Patos de Minas-MG, 2014.
Concentrated heavy minerals from Vargem-1 kimberlite pipe. Green circle: weathered kimberlite; White circle: schists xenoliths; Red circle: Garnet; Black circle: Ilmenite.