DIAMONDS MINES: BRAZILIAN, SOUTH AFRICAN, KIMBERLEY, DEBEERS, INDIAN

The diamond is composed solely of pure carbon and is the hardest substance known, being No. 10 on the Mohl scale. It is found in South Africa, Brazil, India, Borneo, in the Ural Mountains, and in the United States.

Brazilian Mines

The ancient supply of diamonds came probably from India. Although we hear of diamonds in very early times, yet the ancient Indian mines were apparently the first source of supply and continued so until diamonds were found in Borneo, which was only in small amounts, and later more largely in Brazil. The Brazilian mines were discovered in 1727 and were later mined extensively. Mr. Edwin W. Streeter, the London jeweler, in his book published in 1879, states that about 1845 there were twenty-five thousand people engaged in diamond digging in Brazil.

South African Mines

In South Africa diamonds were first found in 1867. The first diggings--they could hardly be called mines--were along the Vaal River. These river diggings were of considerable extent, and a large number of miners from all parts of the world were engaged in searching for stones. Their methods, however, were very crude. The famous rush to Kimberley began in 1870, when a fine fifty-carat diamond was found on the Jagersfontein farm. The thrifty widow who was then the owner of the farm let the right to dig diamonds at 2 pound per month for a claim of twenty feet square. Important diamonds were next discovered on the Dutoitsfontein farm, and soon diamonds were also found on the Bulfontein farm located just across the highway.

Kimberley Mines

The Kimberley mines were discovered in 1871, and the DeBeers and Wesselton about the same time. It is needless to say that the system of leasing claims did not last very long, and that these various farms were soon bought by miners. For some time, however, the various claims were worked by one or two men to each claim, then by larger partnerships, and later by large French and English mining companies.

The DeBeers Company

In 1872 Cecil J. Rhodes, then a student at Oxford University, on account of ill health went to South Africa. He went first to the plantation of his brother, Herbert Rhodes, who had also become interested in diamond mining. A year later he joined his brother in his mining ventures. This same year, 1873, Barnett J. Barnatto came from London to join his brother, Henry, at Kimberley, as a buyer of rough diamonds. Both Rhodes and Barnatto soon acquired some property and became interested as small mine owners. They increased these holdings rapidly, until after a time both saw the need of combination in mine ownership and especially the need of scientific management in operating the mines. In 1888, they, with Messrs. Rothschild, Alfred Beit, and other able mining men, formed the DeBeers Consolidated Mines, Ltd. Since the formation of this company the mines have been developed along scientific lines by an extremely able management, resulting in great benefit to the company and also to the world.

Since the formation of the syndicate the price of the gems has never been allowed to break,--even in times of the greatest commercial depression. In the early days of diamond mining, on the other hand, and especially in India and Brazil, prices sometimes fluctuated very widely. Mr. Streeter, as an example, states that at the time of the commercial crisis of 1857 the prices of Brazilian diamonds fell to one half that of the year previous. The Indian diamonds also fluctuated greatly in price according to the supply and the demand.

Indian Mines