South Africa

The whole outlook and approach to Diamonds, first as a gem, later as an industrial material, were radically altered by the discovery of a Diamond at Hopetown on the banks of the Orange River in South Africa. The story is a remarkable one. It begins with the finding in 1866 of a 'white pebble' by the children of a Boer farmer, Daniel Jakobs. A neighbour, van Niekerk, thought that this might be a Diamond, so in spite of jeers he pursued inquiries until in due course it was indeed proved to be a 21-Carat Diamond, which was purchased for a mere £500. Two years later a fine-quality stone (83 carats) was picked up by a shepherd boy, and it was noised around that this might be of value. At once this same van Niekerk raced up to acquire this and for it gave to the shepherd what to him was a fortune - 500 sheep, 10 oxen and a horse! Van Niekerk's shrewd assessment was certainly justified, since a little later he sold this stone for £11 200. Now it is the cele­brated gem, the Star of South Africa.

Of that first 21-Carat Diamond which was found in 1866 at Hopetown, the then Colonial Secretary remarked: 'This Diamond is the rock upon which the future success of South Africa will be built.' This prophecy was a profound truth, for the discovery of Diamond in South Africa had remarkable repercussions on the whole economy of that country. It was transformed from a hard, difficult, slow, backward, farming economy, to an active, prosperous mining community. New towns were created, old towns expanded. Railways and ports were developed, and immigrants both white and native poured in. Trade both internal and external expanded, and industrial­isation developed rapidly on a big scale. The successful exploitation of Diamond mining created capital for further mineral development, and a direct result of the wealth and skills available from the Diamond mines was the uncovering of the immensely rich gold mines now so important a source of wealth to South Africa. Indirectly, these same Diamond-wealth and mining interests played also a considerable part in the development of the copper bit of Rhodesia.

Following the original start of the South African Diamond rush, the expansion of extensive, but unorganised and un­scientific prospecting led to a succession of rich finds. The first large-scale mine to be opened up was at the Bultfontein farm, in 1869. In 1871 new finds at Dutoitspan led to a true wild rush of prospectors, and by the next year five important Diamond-bearing pipes were uncovered in the Kimberley area. By 1872, around the tiny little town of Kimberley and under canvas, there were no less than 50000 prospectors seeking their fortunes through back-breaking manual opera­tions on claims which, according to law, were restricted to a square of 30 feet by 30 feet. Some fortunes were made, many were missed. The de Beer brothers had formerly bought a farm for £50. After discovering Diamonds on their land, they sold it, for what they imagined was the handsome figure of £6000. How were they to guess that by now Diamonds to the value of £90 000 000 would have been brought up from this piece of farmland!

Later we shall go into detail into the Diamond-mining operations now functioning. Here we mention that the dis­covery of new mines still happens. As recently as February 1967 a new mine, the Finsch, came into full production. This mine, found in 1960, is the first South African major pipe to be discovered for 60 years. It brought for the discoverer the formidable profit of £2i million some three years after he found it, indeed whilst searching, not for Diamond, but actually for sources of the mineral asbestos!

What the South African prospectors had discovered was something new. Instead of the former ancient widespread surface alluvial deposits found elsewhere, here seemingly inexhaustible supplies were being found locally in deep vol­canic pipes. There seemed no limit (other than capital, machinery and manpower) to the depth which one could profitably probe a pipe for the valuable little crystals. Before the turn of the century five main mines were operating, all in the Kimberley area, the Bultfontein, Dutoitspan, de Beers, Kimberley and Wesselton.