Signs of symmetric diamond concentration in the eastern Siberian Platform (relative to the Vilyui syneclise axis)

Abstract

The currently known diamondiferous kimberlite pipes are located northwest of the Vilyui syneclise. However, new factual data indicate that diamondiferous bodies can also be discovered southeast of the Vilyui syneclise axis. The possibility of localization of highly productive kimberlites around the Middle Paleozoic Vilyui‐Patom paleorift was suggested long ago in [1]. This forecast was based on the existence of symmetric (relative to the Vilyui syneclise axis) extended deep fault zones recorded on the surface as Middle Paleozoic basic dike swarms (the Vilyui‐Markha and Chara‐Sina groups in the north and south, respectively). In the mid1970s, Mesozoic pipe-shaped kimberlite‐lamproite bodies were discovered at the upper reaches of the Amga River and on the right bank of the Aldan River (e.g., the Chompolin and Tobuk‐Khatystyr fields). The subsequent thematic and prospecting surveys of the southern side of the syneclise revealed that alluvial sediments of the Olekma, Amga, Tuolba, Namana, and Kenkeme rivers always contain diamond-associated minerals (picroilmenite, pyrope, chromite, olivine, and others). Based on findings of hundreds of diamond grains, the authors of [2] predicted the existence of a symmetric Aldan zone of kimberlite‐lamproite magmatism (relative to the Daldyn‐Olenek zone of kimberlite fields).