Mengyin Diamond Mine

China's first kimberlite diamond deposit

The Mengyin district in central Shandong hosts diamond-bearing kimberlite pipes and was the first primary (in-rock) diamond source developed in China, beginning in the 1960s. It remains one of the country's principal diamond localities, with the diamonds carried up from the deep mantle in Mesozoic kimberlite intrusions.

What Mengyin is known for

• Diamond — octahedral and dodecahedral crystals from kimberlite
• Associated kimberlite indicator minerals (pyrope garnet, olivine)

Availability

Most Mengyin production is industrial, and gem-quality or well-formed crystal specimens are rare. Mengyin's significance for collectors is primarily as the historic cradle of Chinese diamond mining rather than as a steady source of display crystals.

The Changma kimberlite district

China's first primary (in-rock) diamonds were found in 1965, and the Mengyin field — the Changmazhuang, Xiyu, and Poli kimberlite belts — became the country's first developed kimberlite diamond source. The 701 Changma mine, working the Shengli (“Victory”) No. 1 pipe, has been the principal producer, yielding on the order of several thousand carats a year, a minority of it gem quality. Most output is industrial, which is why loose collector crystals are scarce.