This is an exceptionally rare rock, a piece of kimberlite ore from the Kimberley diamond mine in South Africa. This rock is a piece of Earth's mantle that was carried up in a violent volcanic eruption that erupted millions of years ago.

The technical term for this rock is a 'garnet lherzolite' which means the rock contains the mineral garnet and comes from the Earth's mantle, deep beneath the roots of continents.

The small dark red ruby garnets and bright green pyroxene minerals show that this sample comes from a region of the Earth that contains diamonds - or is 'fertile' for diamonds. The Kimberley diamond mine from where this samples comes, is one of the oldest and most famous diamond mines in the world.

This polished stone has been cut to show off the brilliance of the garnets and pyroxenes minerals. The garnets are a deep ruby red, and contain significant amounts of chromium in them, widely used to show diamond fertile sources in the diamond exploration world. The bright green minerals are also rich in chrome and are called chrome diopsides - also an indication of a zone of Earth's mantle that is fertile in diamonds.

Please reach out if you have any questions about this spectacular specimen!