Second Natural Occurrence of KFeS₂ (Hanswilkeite): An Inclusion in Diamond from the Udachnaya Kimberlite Pipe (Siberian Craton, Yakutia)

Abstract

Potassium sulfide KFeS2 (hanswilkeite) has been identified in polymineralic inclusions in a diamond from the Udachnaya kimberlite pipe (Siberian craton, Yakutia). This is the second occurrence of hanswilkeite in nature and the first one in mantle-derived samples. Sulfide KFeS2 is monoclinic, the space group—C 2/c. Its crystal structure consists of chains with K in the interstices. The tetrahedra are centered by iron ions and linked by edges, thus forming chains of [FeS2] frameworks. The strongest lines of the electron diffraction powder pattern are 7.05 Å—(200); 5.34 Å (02¯0); and 3.05 Å (22¯0), and the angles between directions are 2¯0/02¯0>—60° and 2¯0/200>—30°. KFeS2 has been found as a discrete phase within polymineralic inclusions consisting of apatite, ilmenite, chondrodite, phlogopite, dolomite, and a fluid phase. The data obtained from the composition of the hanswilkeite (KFeS2) inclusion and other rare minerals (chondrodite, Mg-apatite, Cr-ilmenite) in primary inclusions in a diamond from the Udachnaya kimberlite testify to the important role of metasomatic processes in diamond formation.

Keywords

• diamond
• potassium sulfide
• inclusion
• kimberlite
• mantle
• craton