11. Kimberlite
An igneous rock found in both South Africa and Siberia, kimberlite is acclaimed ,not for its coarse-grained exterior nor for the fact that these rocks are formed 140 to 450km within the earth’s mantle, but because they serve as a carrier of diamonds and garnet peridotile mantle xenoliths. It was from kimberlite found in South Africa that miners discovered the infamous Star of South Africa, the 83.5-carat diamond that acted as a catalyst for the era of the diamond rush and created the allegedly largest and deepest open-pit and underground mine in the town of Kimberley, South Africa, known as the “Big Hole”.
