ORANGE RIVER ALLUVIAL DIAMOND DEPOSITS SOUTH AFRICA 1866-
The Eureka was the first alluvial diamond found in SouthERN Africa. It was found by A 15-year-old boy named Erasmus Jacobs along the banks of the Orange river near Hopetown in 1866
BROWNISH YELLOW IN COLOUR, IT WEIGHED 21.25 CARATS IN THE ROUGH AND WAS CUT INTO A 10.23 CARAT CUSHION SHAPE DIAMOND. IN 1967 DE BEERS PURCHASED THE DIAMOND IN THE UNITED KINGDOM AND DONATED IT TO THE SOUTH AFRICAN PEOPLE. THE DIAMOND WAS PLACED IN THE KIMBERLEY MINE MUSEUm WHERE IT was on DISPLAY for many years
VAAL RIVER ALLUVIAL DIAMOND DEPOSITS SOUTH AFRICA 1867-
The discovery of alluvial diamonds FIRST ALONG THE the banks of the ORANGE RIVER IN 1866 AND SHORTLY THEREAFTER THE Vaal River near Kimberley in 1868 lead to the great South African diamOND RUSH
The 511.25 carat Venter Diamond, a yellow octahedral crystal is one of the largest alluvial diamonds to be discovered in South Africa was found along the Vaal river on the farm Nooitgedacht in 1951
KIMBERLEY MINE SOUTH AFRICA 1871-1914
the Kimberley mine produced several historic diamonds including a 287 carat carat yellow rough which was cut into the 128 carat cushion shaped Tiffany Diamond
The discovery of alluvial diamonds in South Africa in 1866 preceded the discovery of the Kimberley diamond mines in 1871
DE BEERS MINE SOUTH AFRICA 1871-1990
The De Beers Diamond discovered in 1888 weighed 439 carats in the rough and was cut into A 234 carats cushion shape diamond. The diamond was purchased by the Maharaja of Patalia in 1922 and set into an elaborate necklace by Cartier.
In the 1870s to 1880s the five Kimberley mines were producing 95% of the world’s diamonds. South Africa remained the world’s top producer in carat terms until 1933, when it was overtaken by Zaire, but it continued to be the world’s top producer by value until 1960 when Russia began producing diamonds
DUTOITSPAN MINE SOUTH AFRICA 1871-
the Kimberley Diamond or the “616 Diamond”, which is a reference to its carat weight, was extracted by De Beers from the Dutoitspan mine in 1964. It was at one time the worlds 14th largest gem-quality rough diamond and is potentially the largest octahedral shaped crystal in existence and remains in its original form in the De Beers collection
The Dutoitspan mine together with the shuttered Be Beers mine are the most prolific producers of yellow diamonds of the Kimberley mines
JAGERSFONTEIN MINE SOUTH AFRICA 1870-1972 (CURRENTLY A TAILINGS OPERATION)
the Jagersfontein mine produced several historic diamonds. In 1893 the 995 carat Excelsior Diamond was discovered at the Jagersfontein mine and was the largest known diamond in the world from the time of its discovery until 1905 when the Cullinan Diamond was found
The rough was divided into 11 stones, the largest being The Excelsior I, a 69 carat pear shape G colour, vs2 clarity diamond, and a further ten satellite stones ranging from 9.82 carats to 47.03 carats. It was many years before all of the stones were sold to different buyerS. In 1984 Laurence Graff purchased The Excelsior I, the gem reappeared again for sale in 1996 and was bought by Robert MOUAWAD for $2,642,000
In 1895 the 650 carat Jubilee Diamond was discovered at Jagersfontein which yielded a 245 carat cushion-shape, E colour, vvs2 clarity
LICHTENBURG AND CULLINAN ALLUVIAL DIAMOND FIELDS SOUTH AFRICA 1870-
although the Orange and Vaal river systems are the main source of alluvial diamonds in South Africa, there are several other alluvial diamond deposits that have produced millions of caraTS OF DIAMONDS
The 726 carat Jonker Diamond was discovered in 1934 by a farmer Kobus Jonker in downstream alluvial gravels ~5 kilometers from the Cullinan mine near Pretoria. The diamond was cut by Harry Winston into 12 parts with the largest stone The Jonker I, an emerald-cut weighing 125.65 carats considered to be one of the most perfectly cut gems in existence
CULLINAN MINE SOUTH AFRICA 1902-
the 3106 carat Cullinan Diamond was found ~5 meters below surface by the mine manager in 1905. The Cullinan diamond remains the largest rough gem diamond ever discovered
The largest polished diamond cut from the rough stone is the Cullinan I, a pear-cut brilliant weighing 530 carats, and the second largest stone the Cullinan II, is a cushion-brilliant weighing 317 carats. The Cullinan III is a pear-cut brilliant weighing 94 carats. In total there were 9 major stones and 96 smaller stones cut from the rough by Joseph Asscher in Amsterdam. 8 of the 9 main stones stones were gifted to Queen Elizabeth in 1910
THE Cullinan mine produces ~98% of the world’s RARE blue diamonds
DIAMOND COAST NAMIBIA 1908-
diamonds were first discovered along the west coast of Namibia in 1908. The restricted coastal zone of the Namib deserT is a fenced area of 26,000 square km in a remote and isolated desert region of Namibia which is almost completely uninhabited by humans
The area was owned by De Beers from 1915 until 1990 when Namibia gained independence and the government became a partner in the mine
It was De Beers richest diamond mine for many years, WITH ONE OF THE HIGHEST AVERAGE VALUE PRODUCTIONS WORLDWIDE. MORE RECENTLY PRODUCTION FROM DEEP-SEA MARINE MINING VESSELS HAS OVERTAKEN ONSHORE AND SHALLOW WATER DIAMOND PRODUCTIONS WHICH ARE BECOMING DEPLETED AFTER MORE THAN A CENTURY OF MINING
MARINE DIAMONDS SOUTH AFRICA 1926-
diamonds were first discovered south of the Orange river along the west coast of South Africa in 1926. The primary source of these diamonds are the many kimberlite pipes spread throughout South Africa and Lesotho
SHALLOW WATER OPERATIONS CONTINUE ON A LIMITED SCALE AS DEEP-SEA MINING PRODUCTION INCREASES WITH TECHNOLOGICAL ADVANCES IN MARINE DIAMOND EXTRACTION TECHNOLOGY OVER THE PAST FEW DECADES
THE DIAMONDS PRODUCED IN THIS REGION ARE 95% GEM QUALITY AND INCLUDE FANCY YELLOW DIAMONDS AND THE OCCASIONAL PINK STONE
FINSCH MINE SOUTH AFRICA 1967-
John Fincham a DIAMOND digger and prospector together with WILHELM SCHWaBEL discovered the Finsch mine in the early 1960s and sold it to De Beers for $4m
The Finsch mine was an open-pit operation until it transitioned to underground mining in 1990. The mine produces some exceptional yellow diamonds and the occasional pink STONE
LETSENG-LA-TERRAE MINE LESOTHO 1967-
the Lesotho Diamond was discovered by a female miner in 1967 and weighed a stunning 601 carats. Harry Winston purchased the rough diamond and divided it into 18 parts. The Lesotho I, the largest of the stones cut from the rough is an emerald-cut weighing 71 carats. The second largest diamond The Lesotho II is a marquise-cut weighing 40 carats
The kimberlite was discovered in 1957 by geologist Peter Nixon and declared a public diggings in 1959, and by 1967 there were 6000 local diggers on-site. After the discovery of several large diamonds, the government approached De Beers to evaluate the property again and a large mine was established in 1977. It closed after five years in 1982 as a result of a crash in prices for large high-quality diamonds. At 3100 above sea-level Letseng is the highest diamond mine in the world and has produced some of the worlds most spectacular diamonds
ORAPA DIAMOND MINE BOTSWANA 1971-
ORAPA MEANS “THE RESTING PLACE OF LIONS” IN SETSWANA. The search FOR diamonds in Botswana began in the Tuli Block in 1955. Three small alluvial diamonds were found along the Motloutse river. In 1967, between the village of Lethakane and Mopipi Pan, a team of De Beers Geologists found abundant quantities of Ilmenite and garnet, the two chief indicators of diamondiferous kimberlite
In April 1967, the pipe at Orapa was found. This was to be the largest (117 hectars) of all the kimberlite pipes which were eventually located in this area. The diamond mines were a Godsend for botswana and rapidly transformed the economY of the country
JWANENG MINE BOTSWANA 1972-
JWANENG MEANS “A place of small stones” in setswana”. the Jwaneng mine in Botswana known as the “prince of mines” is the most profitable diamond mine in existence with and annual production of ~11m carats valued at ~$1.5b
The Kimberlite pipe was discovered by De Beers in 1972 and it took 10 years for the mine to come into production in 1982. THE MINE PRODUCES SOME VERY LARGE TYPE IIA COLOURLESS DIAMONDS
VENETIA MINE SOUTH AFRICA 1992-
the Venetia diamond mine was discovered by De Beers in 1990 and came into full production in 1993 as an open-pit operation. It is the largest diamond mine in South Africa and until recently produced ~4-5m carats per year valued at ~$500m. The mine is currently transitioning to an underground operation at a cost of $2.3b
The mine is situated within the confines of The Venetia Limpopo Nature Reserve owned and developed by DE BEERS to protect and develop the natural environment within the regions the operate
KAROWE MINE BOTSWANA 2012-
the Karowe mine in Botswana was discovered by De Beers in the 1970's and after initial testing it was deemed to be uneconomic and De Beers did no further testing on the deposit. In the 2000’s the government requested De Beers release their rights to uneconomic kimberlites in order for junior miners to re-evaluate them for economic potential
The Karowe mine came into commercial production in 2012 and in space of 12 short years dominates the list of the world largest rough diamonds
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