Alberta Kimberlite Indicator Mineral (KIM) Microprobe Analyses (tabular data, tab delimited format)

This digital data release comprises microprobe analyses data of mineral grains and kimberlite indicator mineral (KIM) counts of samples collected by government and industry throughout Alberta between 1993 and 2011. This publication brings together all publicly available microprobe analyses data found in government and academic publications as well as data included by the diamond exploration industry in mineral assessment reports. The purpose of these datasets is to provide the necessary mineralogical data to support diamond exploration in Alberta.

This dataset contains:

• sample list
• microprobe analyses and mineral interpretation
• mineral group counts
• clinopyroxene counts
• garnet class counts
• ilmenite counts
• spinel counts
• KIM interpreted counts
• data sources

  The microprobe analyses and mineral interpretation dataset is a compilation of 34 568 microprobe chemical analyses of mineral grains obtained from a total of 3 387 samples. Mineral grains include xenocrysts from kimberlite and ultramafic intrusions as well as heavy minerals from sediment and bedrock samples. The emphasis of the compilation was not only to provide all available KIM microprobe analyses data in one file but also to perform data quality checks and mineral interpretations to level past classifications performed by different surveys and methodologies through time. KIM reclassifications performed here were based on the most recent research literature for the interpretation of garnet, clinopyroxene, ilmenite, olivine and spinel. Additionally, other minerals not necessarily related to kimberlites were included in the compilation. These other minerals comprise amphibole, biotite, corundum, hematite, magnetite, orthopyroxene, phlogopite, quartz, rutile, staurolite, titanite and tourmaline.

  In addition, mineral count datasets were derived from the microprobe analyses and mineral interpretation dataset with the objective to facilitate the evaluation of mineralogy, quantity and spatial distribution of KIMs with a GIS software. These mineral counts datasets are: mineral group counts, clinopyroxene counts, garnet class counts, ilmenite counts, spinel counts and KIM interpreted counts.