Welcome to the Vancouver Kimberlite Cluster!
The Cluster is a UBC-SRK seminar series, to share ideas and stories from diamond exploration, kimberlite geology, mantle petrology and related topics. We meet every one-to-two months for a talk, and a trip to the nearest pub if we meet in person downtown. We aim to gather the many people working on kimberlites, the cratonic mantle and diamonds - everyone is welcome.
The talk schedule for this and past seasons are below. If you want to subscribe to the distribution list, use this link
2026/2027 Season:
| Date | Speaker | Title | Abstract |
October 14, 2026 12 pm (Pacific Time) |  Dr. Antonio Angellotti Postdoctoral Researcher National Institute of Astrophysics, Rome, Italy
| Enlightened by Diamonds: What Synchrotron Techniques Can Reveal?
| Natural diamonds provide a unique record of processes deep inside the Earth. Their shape, internal features and mineral inclusions preserve information about how diamonds formed, how they changed while they remained in the mantle, and how they were brought to the surface by kimberlitic magmas. Understanding this record requires analytical methods that can connect features seen at very small scales with the larger geological processes that produced them. Synchrotron techniques have greatly expanded our ability to study diamonds and their inclusions in detail.This talk will focus on synchrotron Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) microspectroscopy and its use in mapping nitrogen- and hydrogen-related features in diamonds. I will briefly trace the development of infrared spectroscopy and its applications in geology and gemmology, and show how new analytical capabilities also require us to rethink how we interpret diamond defects. An important message is that no single technique can tell the whole story. Other methods, including synchrotron Mössbauer spectroscopy and X-ray microtomography, provide additional information on iron and on the nature and distribution of mineral inclusions. Bringing these different types of observations together allows us to build a more complete picture of a diamond’s history. With new fourth-generation synchrotron sources providing better analytical capabilities, and artificial intelligence opening new ways to work with complex datasets, diamonds may now help us answer questions that were previously out of reach. What can we learn from them today, and how can researchers and the diamond industry work together to make the most of these new opportunities? |
November 25, 2026
12 pm (Pacific Time) |  Mr. A. Krawitz, Diamond market consultant and founder of "The Diamond Press"
|
The New Diamond Reality
| The diamond industry has undergone significant change in the past decade and continues to evolve as long-standing supply and demand models have been disrupted. This presentation examines the developments that brought the market to this point, from the rise of synthetic diamonds and the end of De Beers’ supply control to changing consumer preferences, e-commerce and social media, tighter regulation, traceability and online trading. It considers how slowing consumer demand, geopolitical tensions, tariffs, sanctions on Russian goods, lab-grown diamonds and shifts in rough supply are changing the balance of power across the pipeline. The discussion then turns to the forces defining the next phase: the sale of De Beers, the democratization of rough supply, lower production, more efficient supply chains, category marketing, sustainability and retail bifurcation. Against this backdrop, the presentation explores the consolidation taking place across the diamond pipeline and its implications for diamond mining. As mines close, production falls and ownership of major assets changes hands, the sector will need to reassess how it manages supply, creates value and supports demand. The key question is whether a smaller, more concentrated industry can provide the discipline and investment needed to restore confidence in the diamond market. |
| TBD |
TBD | TBD | 000 |
| TBD |
TBD |
TBD | 000 |