Preliminary geology, mineral chemistry and diamond results from the C29/30 Candle Lake volcanic complex, Saskatchewan, Canada

The C29/30 kimberlite is one of two diamondiferous kimberlites in the Candle Lake cluster located in east-central Saskatchewan, Canada, approximately 70 km from the Fort á la Corne kimberlite field. The kimberlites are hosted by a Cretaceous sequence of marine mudstone and shale of the Lower Colorado Group, and underlying siltstone and sandstone of the Mannville Group. This sequence overlies Paleozoic carbonates that were deposited over the Proterozoic crystalline basement. Based on the country rock stratigraphy and morphology of the body, C29/30 is inferred to be Cretaceous in age. The elongated kimberlite body has a lateral extent of approximately 2 km with the long axis oriented in a south-east to north-west direction and an estimated surface expression of 75.3 ha. The investigation of 47 drill cores suggests that this body is a single volcanic complex dominated by a single phase of volcaniclastic kimberlite that is characterised by absent to rare phlogopite within the groundmass of preserved juvenile clasts. Minor amounts of at least one other phase of kimberlite containing conspicuous groundmass phlogopite have also been documented. The subsurface shape of C29/30 is complex and is interpreted to result from a combination of explosive volcanic activity that formed two craters from separate feeder vents. The formation of the elongated trough is poorly understood. It may have formed by a fissure style eruption, or erosive processes related to the mass flow of material away from one of the craters or possible the collapse of an eruption column. The C29/30 kimberlite is similar to bodies of the Fort á la Corne kimberlite field with respect to country rock setting, pipe morphology and the dominant textural varieties present. This contribution presents a preliminary geological model of C29/30 based on data obtained from the drilling programmes completed in 2006, 2007 and 2008.