Australian Diamond Industry

Australian Diamond Industry

Australian Argyle Diamonds are internationally reowned for their unique brilliance and stunning array of colours. Unearthed in the rugged Kimberley region in the far north of Western Australia, Argyle Diamonds thrill in shades of exotic pink, sparkling champagne, rich cognac and dazzling white.

From the rare pink diamond to the classic white and natural champagnes, Argyle Diamonds are firing the world's imagination. And why shouldn't they? The Argyle Diamond Mine is the world's biggest producer of natural diamonds and contributes approximately one-third of the world's natural supply.

Discovery Of The Argyle Diamond Mine
The Argyle diamond story has its origins in the early 1970s, when one of the world's most significant find of diamonds was made at Smoke Creek in the remote north of Western Australia, over 2000 kilometres from Perth, the state capital.

Although significant, it is certainly not the first discovery of diamonds in Western Australia. Diamonds had been recovered in the Pilbara region as far back as the 1890s but the primary source of any of these diamond finds had never been located.

The key was time and patience. For decades, geologists had known that a major source of diamonds existed in Australia, but is wasn't until 1972 that their work had identified the Kimberley region as being the most likely location. A joint venture was formed. Geologists spend the next seven years patiently searching the region to discover the Argyle diamond deposit, tantalised by new clues and frustrated by dead ends.

The geologists received their biggest encouragement yet with the Ellendale Prospect in 1977. A number of diamond-bearing kimberlite pipes were discovered in Ellendale, located near Derby. However, the evaluation of the Ellendale Prospect showed it to be uneconomical.


It wasn't until October 2 1979, that geologists were literally standing on top of the richest diamond deposit in the world. They had pinpointed the Argyle Diamond pipe.

The discovery was made while working in Smoke Creek near the awesome Lake Argyle, a man-made dam covering some 720 square kilometres. Geologists found several stones in the creek bed and back tracked along the course finding more diamonds as they went until they climbed high into the range and before long were standing on the Argyle diamond pipe.

What followed was an exclusive programme of drilling, sampling and evaluation. In 1982 the joint venture partners decided to develop a mining operation.