![]() Interestingly enough, the rock that diamonds are found in is called kimberlite. More than a thousand fortune seekers have flocked to a small village in South Africas province of Kwa Zulu Natal to search for diamonds. Sketches - Taken during a Diamond Tour Through South Africa - DELICATE IMAGES OF THE FIRST SOUTH AFRICAN DIAMON RUSH - 4to. It is a huge monument demonstrating the lengths and depths a human will go to discover these priceless gems.It was only due to the existence of the giant diamond pipe that the town ever developed. The Kimberley Mine Museum offers a trip back in time to when diamonds were first found in South Africa in 1866, near Hopetown in the Northern Cape. The Kimberley Mine Museum is a reconstructed mining town built around the 'Big Hole'. A shaft was drilled into the earth of the hill, eventually becoming the deepest hole ever dug by hand, This hole is The Big Hole of Kimberley, and the town's biggest attraction. The best diamond discoveries were found on Colesberg Koppie, the site of the Kimberley mine. They resorted to shelling the town, and fired 8 500 artillery rounds at Kimberley during the siege. Contrary to expectations, the Boers did not attack, preferring the option of starving the garrison into surrender. The 1867 discovery of diamonds in the Cape Colony, South Africa. On 14 October 1899, the Boer forces surrounded Kimberley, cutting off all outside supply lines. A view of the Kimberley Diamond Mine in South Africa, taken from a booklet entitled, A Short Sketch of the African Diamond Mines, published in 1881 by Alfred H. Visit a South African museum dedicated to the famous diamond industry and learn about. South Africa diamond rush stones turn out to be quartz Some 3,000 hopeful diggers had flocked to the site hoping to find diamonds and make their fortune. With the outbreak of the South African War, Boer forces laid siege to the British garrisons at Kimberley and Mafikeng on the Cape border. Over 30 000 people arrived in search of these precious stones, and the de Beers happily sold their farm for £6 300 pounds. The famous Kimberley 'Diamond Rush' only occurred three years later, when a handful of diamonds was discovered on the Zandfontein farm of Nicolaas de Beers. His parents had it evaluated and it was identified as a diamond. ![]() ![]() ©Roger de la HarpeUnderground at the Kimberley Mine Museum. ![]()
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