1 Kimberlite Wall Rock Fragmentation Processes: Venetia K08 Pipe Development The final publication is available at www.springerlink.com - 10.1007/s00445-011-0499-3 W.P. Barnett (1,2) , S. Kurszlaukis (3), M. Tait (1), P. Dirks (4) (1) Mineral Resources Management, De Beers Group Services, P/Bag X01, Southdale 2135, South Africa (2) present address: SRK Consulting, Suite 2200, 1066 West Hastings Street, Vancouver V6E3X2, BC, Canada (
[email protected]; +17782388038) (3) Kimberlite Petrology Unit, De Beers Canada Inc., Toronto, Ontario, Canada (4) School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, James Cook University, Townsville, Australia Abstract Current kimberlite pipe development models strongly advocate a downward growth process with the pipe cutting down onto its feeder dyke by means of volcanic explosions. Evidence is presented from the K08 kimberlite pipe in Venetia Mine, South Africa, which suggests that some pipes or sub-components of pipes develop upwards. The K08 pipe in pit exposure comprises >90 vol.% chaotic mega-breccia of country rock clasts (gneiss and schist) and <10 vol.% coherent kimberlite. Sub-horizontal breccia layers, tens of metres thick, are defined by lithic clast size variations, and contain zones of shearing and secondary fragmentation. Textural studies of the breccias and fractal statistics on clast size distributions are used to characterize sheared and non-sheared breccia zones, and to deduce a fragmentation mechanism. Breccia statistics are compared directly with the statistics of fragmented rock produced from mining processes in order to support interpretations. Results are consistent with an initial stage of brecciation formed by upward-moving collapse of an explosively pre-conditioned hangingwall into a subterranean volcanic excavation.