Indian Jewelry » Panna Diamond Mine

In the Panna Belt, there are three known sources for diamonds.They are (a) Kimberlite Pipe; (b) Conglomerate (Jhiri and Itwa Conglomerates of the Rewa group); and (c) Quaternary Gravels.

The Panna Belt is unique as it is the only example of a working, modern mining and processing plant exploiting a primary source of Kimberlitic Diatreme with an annual production of around 17,000 cts. Besides, it sustains numerous unorganized workings for alluvial diamonds spread over a stretch of 80 kms. The primary source rocks for diamonds, kimberlite pipes are located at Majhagawan and Hinota (980-1120Ma+40Ma) in the western extremity of the belt and are intrusive into the Kaimur Group of the Vindhyan Basin.

The other important sources of diamonds are the conglomerates occurring at different stratigraphic levels of the Rewa Group, comprising Panna shales, Itwa sandstone, Jhiri shale and Gahadra sandstone. The conglomerates are thin, a few centimetres to a metre thick. Thus, it is interpreted that the occurrence took place within the perimeter of the Vindhyan basin in an interlude of sedimentation, whereby the diamonds were carried into the sink by the fluvial system.

The third source-rock, for diamonds is that found in Quaternary Gravels spread along the courses of the Ken, Ranj and Baghain rivers and their tributaries as well as the lateritic gravels trapped within the Baghain sandstone.