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Argyle Diamonds
The Argyle Diamond Mine was a diamond mine located in the East Kimberley (Western Australia), Kimberley region in the remote north of Western Australia. Argyle was at times the largest diamond producer in the world by volume (14 million carats in 2018), although the proportion of gem-quality diamonds was low. It was the only known significant source of Pink diamond, pink and Red diamond, red diamonds (producing over 90% of the world's supply), and additionally provided a large proportion of other naturally coloured diamonds, including champagne, cognac and rare blue diamonds. Mining operations ceased in November 2020, after 37 years of operations and producing more than 865 million carats of rough diamonds. Mine operator Rio Tinto Group, Rio Tinto planning to decommission the mine and rehabilitate the site at least through 2025. The Argyle diamond mine is also notable for being the first successful commercial diamond mine exploiting a volcanic pipe of lamproite, rather than th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lake Argyle
Lake Argyle is Western Australia's largest and Australia's second largest freshwater man-made reservoir by volume. The reservoir is part of the Ord River Irrigation Scheme and is located near the East Kimberley town of Kununurra. The lake flooded large parts of the Shire of Wyndham-East Kimberley on the Kimberley Plateau about inland from the Joseph Bonaparte Gulf, close to the border with the Northern Territory. The primary inflow is the Ord River, while the Bow River and many other smaller creeks also flow into the dam. The lake is a DIWA-listed wetland. Lake Argyle and Lake Kununurra were listed in 1990 as Ramsar Convention protected wetlands. History and construction The construction of the Ord River Dam was completed in 1971 by Dravo Corporation. The dam was officially opened the following year. The dam wall is long, and high. The earth-fill only dam wall at Lake Argyle is the most efficient dam in Australia in terms of the ratio of the size of the dam wall to th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
