Abstract
We report the first successful dating by the SHRIMP U-Pb method of a tiny, single zircon inclusion in a natural diamond from a kimberlite at Mbuji Mayi, Zaire. The Mbuji Mayi diamonds are a composite suite of contrasting composition, probable age, and origins, which includes diamonds of the typical ultramafic and eclogitic parageneses, as well as many diamonds featuring a fibrous coating that formed in equilibrium with a volatile-rich fluid phase. The zircon-diamond pair is believed to be cogenetic, and the age obtained from the inclusion is the youngest yet recorded for a diamond originating in the earth's upper mantle, though still much older than the Cretaceous eruption age of the kimberlite host from which it was recovered. Significantly, the age does not appear to correspond to any known geological event affecting the Congo craton or adjacent areas as recorded in the currently exposed rocks. Unlike zircon megacrysts from Mbuji Mayi and elsewhere, the inclusion is U-rich, up to 650 ppm, implying a distinct origin.
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