We identified a ca. 180 Ma diamondiferous lamproite event in Zambia, establishing a link between ultrapotassic volcanism and the early Jurassic Karoo flood basalt province of sub-Saharan Africa. The cratonic lamproites erupted through the Permo–Triassic Luangwa Rift structure, but MgO-rich ultrapotassic magma formation was unrelated to rifting and triggered by plume–lithosphere interactions during ...