A large kimberlite field has been discovered in Western Australia's Gibson Desert, and it may extend over 400 square kilometers, Diamond Intelligence reports. Australian diamond companies Meteoric Resources and Geocrystal, operating as a joint venture, made the discovery at the former's concessions.

Drilling problems plagued the exploration work, Meteoric said. Over 90% of all of the planned drilling targets were forgone, and two out of the seven targets that were drilled missed identifiable bedrock. But five drillings did penetrate 543 meters and intersected olivine-bearing ultramafic volcanic rocks. These were found to contain chrome diopside, pyrope garnet and chromite, which are considered reliable indicators of the nearby presence of rough diamonds.

Though no actual diamonds have been recovered as of yet, the firms are still overjoyed at their successes thus far and have requested that their allotment of land be doubled from 500 square kilometers to 1,000 square kilometers, according to Diamond Intelligence.