Stephen Haggerty , a geologist at Florida International University in Miami and head of exploration for the Youssef Diamond Mining Company, says he has discovered a West African plant that only grows on kimberlite chimneys or pipes.
Stated like this, the news may not stir enthusiasm, but things change if we take into account that kimberlite tubes are columns of volcanic igneous rock where diamond deposits tend to hide , formed under extreme conditions of heat and pressure billions of years ago. years.
Looking like a palm tree, spiny and ten meters high, the new plant has been dubbed Pandanus candelabrum . It is the first to be identified related to diamonds, since others related to other minerals are known: thus, the Lychnis alpina, recognizable by its pinkish florets, and the white-flowering Haumaniastrum katangense , sprout on the copper reserves of Scandinavia and Central Africa, respectively.
As recounted in the journal Economic Geology , Haggerty believes that the plant has adapted to kimberlite deposits because they are rich in magnesium, potassium, and phosphorus. He is also confident that it can be detected with satellite images and will help West African countries discover new diamond deposits even in jungles and savannas.
