RB 2012/00006 A review of kimberlites and related rocks in South Australia.
Published: 01 Mar 2012 Created: 25 Nov 2024 Revised: 27 Nov 2024

There are currently around 200 primary kimberlitic rock occurrences known in South Australia, located within seven discrete kimberlite provinces. These provinces span a distance of 400 km across the state, from the western side of Eyre Peninsula...

There are currently around 200 primary kimberlitic rock occurrences known in South Australia, located within seven discrete kimberlite provinces. These provinces span a distance of 400 km across the state, from the western side of Eyre Peninsula in the Gawler Craton, to beneath the Murray Basin east of Adelaide. By the early 1980s, almost all of the known outcropping kimberlitic intrusions had been located, while most subsequent discoveries have been confined to shallowly buried intrusive bodies that were located by interpretation of aeromagnetic surveys. Many of the intrusions discussed cannot be confirmed as definitely kimberlitic at this stage due to their pervasive alteration and weathering, which makes examination of the rock matrix material difficult. Diamondiferous kimberlites are now known to exist both in the Eurelia and Terowie Kimberlite Provinces. A detailed review of all available dating information indicates that the confirmed emplacement ages of the kimberlites range from 191 to 170 Ma, but there is other, regolith-derived evidence, based on the presence of detrital kimberlite indicators and diamonds scattered within older secondary units, which suggests that Lower Permian or older diamondiferous kimberlites may also exist in South Australia. Systematic characterisation of the kimberlitic rocks in South Australia is very incomplete. As part of a project intended to systematically map and describe all of the kimberlites and related rocks known in South Australia, heavy mineral samples have been collected from a number of kimberlites in every kimberlitic field within each province. Not all are true kimberlites (see Cooper et al. 2007), and emplacement ages are not continuous across the State. The appendix to the subject report provides the first accurate location details for all of this State’s known kimberlites, including for some that were previously rarely mentioned in publications, and also for many that have never had any particulars published.

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About this record

Record No d20010571
Topic Geoscientific Information
Type of Resource Document
Category Type
Document Type Departmental Publication - Geological Survey Geoscience Publication
Contributor
Sponsor
Tenement
Tenement Holder
Operator
Geological Province
Mine Name Elliston Kimberlite Province;Cleve Kimberlite Province;Port Augusta Kimberlite Province;Eurelia Kimberlite Province;Terowie Kimberlite Province;Truro Kimberlite Province;Blanchetown Kimberlite Province
Stratigraphy
Commodity
Notes
Geographic Locality: South Australia;Flinders Island;Mount Hope;Venus Bay;Pine Creek;Calcutteroo;Angaston;El Alamein East;Mittopitta;Mungibbie;Ulooloo;Monk Hill;Reedy Lagoon;Edwards Creek;Echunga
Doc No: RB 2012/00006

Geographic Locality: South Australia;Flinders Island;Mount Hope;Venus Bay;Pine Creek;Calcutteroo;Angaston;El Alamein East;Mittopitta;Mungibbie;Ulooloo;Monk Hill;Reedy Lagoon;Edwards Creek;Echunga Doc No: RB 2012/00006

Language English
Metadata Standard ISO 19115-3

Citations

Use constraints License
License Creative Commons Attribution 4.0
Persistent identifier https://pid.sarig.sa.gov.au/document/d20010571
Citation Cooper, S.A.;Morris, B.J. 2012. RB 2012/00006 A review of kimberlites and related rocks in South Australia. Departmental Publication - Geological Survey Geoscience Publication. Government of South Australia.
https://pid.sarig.sa.gov.au/document/d20010571

Technical information

Status
Maintenance and Update Frequency
Geographic Reference GDA2020 (EPSG:7844)
Geo bounding box {"type":"Polygon","coordinates":[[[133.5,-35],[141,-35],[141,-32],[133.5,-32],[133.5,-35]]]}
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