A Review of the Kimberlites of the Democratic
Republic of Congo
Michiel C.J. de Wit and Hielke A. Jelsma
17.1 Introduction
Exploration for diamonds in the DRC, then known as Congo
Belge, started in 1900, when King Leopold-II granted the
company Tanganyika Concessions Limited (TCL) exclusive
prospecting rights over 155,000 km2 in the southern part of
the country. Between 1900 and 1909 TCL, a foreign partner
of Union Minière du Haut Katanga (UMHK) and
Compagnie du Chemin de Fer du Bas-Congo au Katanga
(BCK), located more than 100 old copper workings in
Katanga (then known as Shaba) Province, discovered tin
near Bukama in 1904, and discovered the country’s first
diamond in 1903, in the Mutendele stream in Katanga Prov-
ince, which is a tributary of the Lualaba River in the
headwaters of the Congo River. Further exploration by the
company led to the discovery of a large kimberlite field on
the Kundelungu plateau in 1908.
The first diamond in the Kasai region was found in 1907
by prospector Narcisse Janot, near Tshikapa in the Kiminina
(Tshiminina) River, which is a tributary of the Kasai River
and which became part of the alluvial mines around
Tshikapa that ultimately produced well over 100 Million
carats (Mcts). The discovery encouraged Forminière to
continue its exploration program that in 1918 led to the
discovery of diamonds near Bakwanga (Mbuji Mayi) Town
where geologist George Young recovered 8,840 diamonds in
one stream sample in the Bushimaie (Mbujimayi) River. By
1920 this was already known as one of the largest deposits of
alluvial diamonds in the world, the production of which in
M.C.J. de Wit (*)
Department of Geology, University of Pretoria, Private Bag X20,
Hatfield 0028, South Africa
e-mail: dewit@icon.co.za
H.A. Jelsma
De Beers Group Services, Exploration, Private Bag X01, Southdale
2135, South Africa
e-mail: hielke.jelsma@debeersgroup.com
M.J. de Wit et al. (eds.), Geology and Resource Potential of the Congo Basin, Regional Geology Reviews,
DOI 10.1007/978-3-642-29482-2_17, # Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2015
17
the early 1950s represented some 75 % of world production
by volume (Fieremans 1953; Forminière 1956).
The presence of kimberlites in the area was however only
realized in 1946 (de Magnée 1946) and the first detailed
study of the Bakwanga (Mbuji Mayi) cluster kimberlites
was presented by Wasilewski (1950). In 1955 the Tshibua
(Tshibwe) cluster kimberlites were found by MIBA. These
were the last kimberlites to be found in the country until De
Beers started exploring, first between 1970 and 1982 and
later between 2004 and 2009. During the first spell the Bas-
Congo kimberlites were found south of Kinshasa close to the
Angolan border in 1974 and in 2005 two further clusters were
discovered near Kabinda, east of Mbuji Mayi. The distri-
bution of the known kimberlite fields is shown in Fig. 17.1.
17.2 Katanga Kundelungu Kimberlite Field
The Kundelungu kimberlites occur as two separate groups
on the Kundelungu Plateau in the south-east of the DRC in
Katanga Province (Figs. 17.1 and 17.2) and were initially
described by Verhoogen (1938). The kimberlites occur to the
east of the exposed section of the Bangweulu block, which is
separated from the Kasai Craton to the northwest by the
Mesoproterozoic Kibaran belt. The Kundelungu Plateau
may be underlain by a basement extension of the Bangweulu
block.
The kimberlite field comprises an eastern and a western
group consisting of 16 and 17 kimberlites, respectively. The
eastern group was discovered by TCL in 1908 (Studt 1910)
whilst the western group was only found in 1913 by Poulson
(Fieremans 1953). The majority of the kimberlites are pipes
and were originally evaluated by Société Belge Industrielle
et Minière du Katanga (SIMKAT) between 1913 and 1923
and later by De Beers between 1977 and 1982. The pipes
range in size between less than 1 ha to approximately 50 ha
for the Talala pipe. The uppermost rock types comprise both
magmatic and volcaniclastic kimberlites suggesting hypa-
byssal and crater/diatreme facies preserved, respectively.
361
362 M.C.J. de Wit and H.A. Jelsma

Fig. 17.1 Kimberlite fields of the DRC

Fig. 17.2 Kimberlites within the Kundelungu Field, Kundelungu Plateau (after Kampata 1993)
17 A Review of the Kimberlites of the Democratic Republic of Congo
Crustal zircons from two of the Kundelungu kimberlites
in the eastern group (Gungwania and Talala pipes) have
been dated, using U-Pb and Hf-isotope analyses, with results
indicating that the basement is Palaeoproterozoic in age
(Batumike et al. 2007). The kimberlites have intruded unde-
formed mudrocks, sandstones and limestones of the
Neoproterozoic Biano Subgroup of the upper part of the
Katanga Supergroup (Kampunzu and Cailteux 1999).
Palaeontological material from crater sediments from
the Cango (Kango) kimberlite (approximately 9.7 ha in
size) includes frogs (family Pipidae, subfamily
Xenopinae), a gastropod (genus Planorbis) and plant mate-
rial in an ostracod-rich matrix (genera Zonocypris and
Ilycypris), and were initially interpreted as Late Jurassic
to Late Eocene in age (Saxby 1982). However, some of the
fossils are similar to those found in Eocene crater
sediments in the Mahene kimberlite in Tanzania (Jacobs
and Heredeen 2004) and in late Cretaceous crater
sediments in the Banke (Haughton 1931) and Stompoor
(Smith 1986) kimberlites in South Africa. Based on strati-
graphic evidence, Demaiffe et al. (1991) suggested a Cre-
taceous age for the Kundelungu kimberlites. Recent U-Pb
dating of groundmass perovskite of two of the bodies
(Kambeli and Msipashi pipes), which occur in the southern
end of the eastern group (Fig. 17.2), has provided an age of
32  2 Ma (Batumike et al. 2008).
17.3 Kasai Oriental Kabinda Kimberlite Field
Two clusters of kimberlites were discovered during explo-
ration by the joint venture between the De Beers Group and
Bugeco S.A. to the east of the village of Kabinda, some
100 km east of Mbuji Mayi in the eastern part of Kasai
Oriental Province (Fig. 17.1). The Kasendou cluster was
discovered in 2005 and consists of eight bodies whilst the
two known kimberlites of the Lukashi cluster were found in
2007 (www.bugeco.com, Fig. 17.3). The kimberlites
include crater-facies volcaniclastic, resedimented volcani-
clastic and coherent magmatic varieties and were emplaced
through Neoproterozoic dolomitic limestones of the Mbuji
Mayi Supergroup with dolerite sills, and overlying Meso-
zoic siliciclastic sediments (Walker 2011). Micro- and
macro-diamonds have been recovered from some of the
kimberlites (www.afdiamonds.com). The largest pipe is
estimated to be approximately 10 ha in size and the com-
bined total surface area of the kimberlites reaches some
35 ha. In 2008, De Beers withdrew from the joint venture
because of the worldwide economic crisis and the small
size and low grade of the kimberlites (African Diamonds
plc. 2009; USGS 2008).
363
17.4 Kasai Oriental Mbuji Mayi Kimberlite
Field (Mbuji Mayi and Tshibwe Clusters)
17.4.1 Mbuji Mayi Kimberlite Cluster
The first diamonds in Kasai Oriental Province were discov-
ered at Lukelenge by Young in 1918 along the Mbujimayi
River (Figs. 17.1, 17.4 and 17.5). It was only in 1946 that
Magnée recognized from an electrical survey that the rich
eluvial deposits were underlain by kimberlite pipes, locally
called “Massifs” (Bardet 1974). The discovery of Massif-1
triggered large-scale systematic prospecting of the high
terraces and hills of the Bakwanga (Mbuji Mayi) area and
resulted in the discovery of a cluster of ten pipes (M1-M10),
six of which are crater- to diatreme-facies pipes and four are
interpreted as in-fills of kimberlite in topographic (karst)
depressions. These bodies comprise the Northern Group of
Mbuji Mayi kimberlites and nine of these occur in the MIBA
Mining License known as the “Polygon” (Fig. 17.4).
Follow-up work to determine the source of diamonds in
the Mbujimayi River and associated Mudiba and Katsha
tributaries resulted in the discovery of six further pipes to
the southwest of Mbuji Mayi town, inclusive of the Tshibwe
pipe (Fig. 17.5).
The kimberlite pipes of the Mbuji Mayi Cluster occur to
the south of Mbuji Mayi town and are primarily aligned
along an E-W trend (Figs. 17.5 and 17.6a). They are
emplaced through Archean basement, and siliciclastic
sediments and stromatolitic, dolomitic limestones of Neo-
proterozoic age of the Mbuji Mayi Supergroup (Delpomdor
et al. 2013; and Chap. 2b), which are overlain by arenaceous
sediments of Cretaceous age. Narrow feeder pipes have
intruded through the hard limestones and expanded dramati-
cally into the overlying and unconsolidated sediments and
resulted in ‘champagne glass-shaped’ intrusions. The upper
parts of the kimberlites show crater facies litho-types,
including resedimented volcaniclastic kimberlites (RVK)
and pyroclastic kimberlites (PK) (Fig. 17.6b). The RVK
shows green and red breccias and tuffs, with variable
dilution and which often show graded bedding. The PK
is characterized by juvenile-rich micaceous kimberlites that
have a massive appearance on the scale of metres to deca-
metres. Country rock clast types are dominated by dolomitic
limestone, and subordinate crossbedded sandstone and shale,
and basement granite, gabbro, amphibolite and dolerite.
Hypabyssal kimberlite is largely absent.
Of note is the presence of sedimentary intervals in Massif-
3, separating kimberlite eruptive phases, including a 20 m
thick aeolian sandstone horizon and a 50 cm thick bio-
turbated clay bed (Fieremans, pers. comm. 2006), suggesting
that some of eruptive phases are separated in time.
364 M.C.J. de Wit and H.A. Jelsma

Fig. 17.3 Kimberlites of the Kasendou Cluster within the Kabinda Field (after Walker 2011)

Fig. 17.4 Overview of the mining area and kimberlite “Massifs” at Mbuji Mayi. The location of the “Massifs” within the larger Mbuji Mayi
Kimberlite Field is shown in Fig. 17.5

This is also indicated by the interconnection and The majority of the Mbuji Mayi kimberlites have been
superimposition of some of the eruptive phases, with evaluated to various degrees of confidence (Table 17.1) and
magmatism migrating from west to east from Massif-4 to mining has taken place predominantly within weathered ore
Massif-2 (Fig. 17.7). horizons; Massifs-2 and -3 which share a common feeder
17 A Review of the Kimberlites of the Democratic Republic of Congo 365

Fig. 17.5 Kimberlite pipes near Mbuji Mayi in East Kasai (after Fieremans and Fieremans 1993)

Fig. 17.6 (a) Photograph of Mbuji Mayi kimberlite pipes, with including (“epiclastic”) red sandy-gritty, highly diluted resedimented
Massif-5 in the foreground, viewing east and Mbuji Mayi town to the volcaniclastic kimberlite (0.5 cts/m3) and green pyroclastic kimberlite
north (photo John Ward). (b) Different kimberlite phases in Massif-1, (2 cts/m3)
366 M.C.J. de Wit and H.A. Jelsma

Fig. 17.7 Linear relation between the pipes of the Northern Group (pipe M6 to the west is not shown), after Fieremans and Fieremans (1993). A:
longitudinal profile; B: theoretical reconstruction of the profile before erosion to actual level

Table 17.1 Size, grade and revenue data for four of the Mbuji Mayi Detrital deposits inclusive of sandy argillaceous deposits
kimberlites with kaolin nodules that overlie the kimberlite pipes run at
Surface Grade Revenue very high grades as do some of the hill-slope gravels. These
Kimberlite Dimension area (ha) (cts/m3) (US$/ct) pediments or flash flood gravels were deposited onto pre-
Massif-1 750  450 m 22.6 2.78 12–14 existing limestone karst topography and are poorly sorted.
Massif-4 75  75 m 0.8 2.57 Further interpretation is complicated by excessive over-
Massif-5 650  200 m 10.2 2.77 burden (up to 40 m). However, pre-deposition karst features
Massif-6 280  160 m 4.4 2.42 and potholes have proven to be excellent diamond trap-sites
ct carat; ha hectare (reported grades of 100 cts/m3) while post-deposition sink-
hole developments exhibit limited diamond potential. Allu-
vial deposits inclusive of high and low terrace and valley
with Massif-4 have been mined to approximately 60 m
floor deposits occur along the Mbujimayi, Sankuru and Lubi
below surface while operations have advanced to below
Rivers (and associated tributaries), and riverbed gravel
50 m on Massif-5 (Fig. 17.6a). Mining operations are
deposits, particularly in the Mbujimayi and Sankuru Rivers.
planned on Massif-1 using conventional drill and blast
MIBA mining operations are becoming increasingly
methods although no plant processing capability exists.
marginal as most of the high grade detrital and river bed
Kimberlite grades are variable from 0.5 cts/m3 in the
deposits have been mined to exhaustion and because of
“epiclastic” kimberlite, to 1.5 cts/m3 in tuffaceous kimberlite
declining diamond prices, labour disputes, and power supply
breccias, to 2–3 cts/m3 in massive pyroclastic kimberlite. The
problems. Production from the Mbuji Mayi kimberlites
stone value is generally low, averaging at 12 to 14 US$/ct.
ceased in November 2008 and the mine requires significant
The inferred emplacement age of the kimberlites is
recapitalisation if mining is to resume.
estimated at ca. 70 Ma (Davis 1977; Shärer et al. 1997),
which is consistent with the mean age of a young concordant
zircon population recovered from an Upper Cretaceous
sandstone of 79  7 Ma (Roberts et al. 2014). 40Ar/39Ar 17.4.2 Tshibwe Kimberlite Cluster
dating on diamond inclusions reached consistently older
ages for kimberlite emplacement (Phillips et al. 2004) In 1956 a new kimberlite was intersected in extensive eluvial
between 115  2 Ma and 801  13 Ma, which can be workings in the Katsha-Kabonji-Tshibua area, and is now
explained in terms of partial retention of inherited argon, known as the Tshibwe kimberlite pipe (Figs. 17.5 and 17.8).
produced between the times of diamond crystallization and Following the discovery, a drilling program by MIBA led to
kimberlite eruption. the discovery of a further five kimberlites in the area, which
17 A Review of the Kimberlites of the Democratic Republic of Congo
Fig. 17.8 Photograph of
Tshibwe kimberlite pipe, viewing
northwest (photo John Ward)
are here referred to as the Southern Group of the Mbuji Mayi
kimberlite field encompassing Tshibwe, Tshinyama,
Kakongo, Tshambila, Ndaye and Tshinkasa pipes
(Fig. 17.5).
The Tshibwe kimberlite is located within a broadly
east–west orientated valley surrounded by low hills. The
Tshibua stream passes across the kimberlite but the flow
has been diverted and controlled in order to prevent flooding
of the open pit. It joins the Katsha tributary which flows to
the southeast to the Tshimanga mining area and there joins
the Mbujimayi River (Fig. 17.5). Dredging of gravels down-
stream of Tshibwe pipe has proven lucrative with the 100 m
wide by 20 m deep Senga-Senga pothole in the Mbujimayi
River (Fig. 17.4) delivering five million carats from
100,000 m3 of ore.
Estimates of the extent of the kimberlite sub-outcrop
range from 40 to 60 ha, with an E–W axis of 1400 m and
an N-S axis of 600 m. In cross-section, the pipe has a flared
(albeit asymmetric) champagne-glass shape, with a narrow
neck some 200 m in diameter (Fig. 17.9). The facies of the
pipe are dominated by volcaniclastic kimberlite, including
sandstone-rich, monolithic and heterolithic breccia types
(RVK), as well as the more competent, green-grey, massive
volcaniclastic (PK) and transitional kimberlite types.
The eluviated and weathered surface horizon (“yellow
ground”) over Tshibwe pipe was mined by MIBA between
1978 and 1980, with reported grades in excess of 2 cts/m3.
367
The diamond potential of the hard “blue ground” kimberlite
of the pipe was subsequently tested and mined from 670 m to
500 m by MIBA (1981–2000), Sengamines (Senga-Senga
SARL, 2000–2005, with MIBA as minority shareholder) and
more recently, Societé Anhui-Congo d’Investissement
Minier Sprl, or SACIM (2013-present). The Sengamines
operations produced 2.03 Mcts at a run-of-mine grade of
0.8 cts/m3 and revenue of US$ 16/ct (Michaelides 2006).
17.5 Bas-Congo Kimpangu Kimberlite Field
Several kimberlite dykes were found south of Kinshasa close
to the border with Angola, intruded into Neoproterozoic
sediments of the West Congolian Group (Fig. 17.1). The
dykes are up to 3 m wide and trend north-northeast. The
kimberlites were discovered by De Beers in 1974 during a
reconnaissance sampling program but no diamonds were
found associated with these occurrences and the mineral
chemistry suggests an off-craton setting (de Wit 2006).
One of the kimberlites is referred to as Kimpangu and was
explored by SouthernEra (Evans 2004). More recently,
Kapapa Eleazard (2011) mentions the presence of a kimber-
lite pipe at Kimpangu for which little is known—‘On signale
qu’une pipe kimberlitique existe à Kimpangu mais il est peu
étudié’ (A kimberlite pipe is reported at Kimpangu but it has
been little studied).
368
Fig. 17.9 Tshibwe pipe, topographic contour map of crater walls as deduced from drilling, and longitudinal profile (redrawn from Fieremans and
Fieremans 1993)
Conclusions
During the past century, the DRC (alternate historic
names Congo Belge, Zaire, Congo) has produced over
1,000 Mcts of diamonds, from alluvial and kimberlite
mining operations. Sixty-six kimberlites have been dis-
covered since 1946, with economic pipes restricted to the
Kasai region, where most of the alluvial mining
operations have also taken place. Published age
constraints on the kimberlites show Late Cretaceous
ages for the Mbuji Mayi kimberlites (~70 Ma) and
Eocene ages for the Kundelungu kimberlites (~32 Ma).
Emplacement of the Late Cretaceous kimberlites (Mbuji
Mayi, Tshibwe, Kasendou and Lukashi) was concomitant
with the deposition of Cretaceous sequences. The major-
ity of the pipes show crater-facies preservation and some
of the pipes are flared showing so-called ‘champagne
glass-shaped’ morphologies, suggesting emplacement
into unconsolidated sediments overlying basement. The
age of the Eocene-Oligocene Kundelungu kimberlites
M.C.J. de Wit and H.A. Jelsma
corresponds to lithospheric extension associated with the
southward propagation of the East African Rift
Acknowledgements We express our gratitude to Marc Fieremans and
Paul Kabongo (MIBA) for their hospitality during a mine visit in 2006
and discussions on the geology of the Mbuji Mayi kimberlites. Reviews
by John Gurney and Mike Lynn are gratefully acknowledged.
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