A new body of highly diamondiferous kimberlites in the Nakyn field of the Yakutian kimberlite province

We report the first data on the contents of main oxides and REE in rocks and the compositions of pyropes and almandines from the Maiskoe kimberlite body recently discovered in the Nakyn field of the Yakutian kimberlite province.The kimberlites are characterized by low contents of Ti, a slight domination of Mg over Ca, and high contents of K2O in some samples. The pyropes have high contents of Cr2O3 (up to 14.5 wt.%); many of them (∼16%) are poor in Ca. In petrochemical and mineralogical features the kimberlites of the Maiskoe body are complementary to the highly diamondiferous kimberlites of the nearby Botuobinskaya and Nyurbinskaya pipes. At the same time, they are not the final link in the evolution of kimberlite magmatism in the Nakyn field, which makes the latter still more promising for diamonds.