Sorting Diamonds, Kimberley, South Africa, 1888

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Entitled: "Sorting stones in a diamond office. Kimberley, South Africa." The 1867 discovery of diamonds in the Cape Colony, South Africa, radically modified not only the world's supply of diamonds but also the conception of them. The first diamond discoveries in South Africa were alluvial. By 1869, diamonds were found far from any stream or river. First in yellow earth and below in hard rock called blue ground, later called kimberlite, after the mining town of Kimberley. In the 1870s and 1880s Kimberley, encompassing the mines that produced 95% of the world's diamonds, was home to great wealth and fierce rivalries. In 1872, one year after digging started, the population of the camp of diggers grew to around 50,000. As digging progressed, many men met their deaths in mining accidents. The unsanitary conditions, scarcity of water and fresh vegetables as well as the intense heat in the summer, also took their toll. In 1888 the leaders of the various mines decided to amalgamate the separate diggings into one big mine and one big company known as De Beers Consolidated Mines Limited. The Kimberley Mine is an open-pit and underground mine in Kimberley, South Africa, and claimed to be the largest hole excavated by hand, although this claim is disputed. Robert Harris, 1888.

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