The Kimberley Mine in Old Days
According to Mr. Paterson, who examined the diamond fields of Kimberley soon after their discovery, “Wherever the diamond is obtained perfect in form and smooth in finest smoothness of surface, without depression, hump, or twist of any kind, such diamonds were ever found in their own little moulds of finest limey stuff,[2] and as if such mould of lime had been a necessity to their perfect formation. And further, where the splinters of diamonds, or boarty stuff, were chiefly met by the diggers, there was much less presence of limey matter in the claim at the section of it where such broken or fragmentary diamonds were found; and that chiefly from among what the diggers termed ‘clay-ballast,’ or ‘burnt brick,’ were unearthed the bits or undeveloped crystals so plentiful at New Rush.”[3]
In the first days of diamond mining there was no idea that diamantiferous earth extended to any particular depth, and miners were allowed to dig holes at haphazard and prospect where they liked. When the Kimberley Mine was discovered a new arrangement was made, and in July, 1871, it was cut up into about 500 claims, each 31 feet square, with spaces reserved for about fifteen roadways across the mine. No person at first could hold more than two claims—a rule afterwards modified.
The following quotation from a description of a visit to Kimberley in 1872, by Mr. Paterson, taken from a paper read by him to the Geologists’ Association, gives a graphic picture of the early days of the Kimberley Mine:
“The New Rush diggings (as the Kimberley Mine was at first called) are all going forward in an oval space enclosed around by the trap dyke, and of which the larger diameter is about 1000 feet, while the shorter is not more than 700 feet in length. Here all the claims of 31 feet square each are marked out with roadways of about 12 feet in width, occurring every 60 feet. Upon these roadways, by the side of a short pole fixed into the roadway, sits the owner of the claim with watchful eye upon the Kafir diggers below, who fill and hoist, by means of a pulley fixed to the pole above, bucketful after bucketful of the picked marl stuff in which the diamonds are found.
“Many of the claims are already sunk to a depth of 100 feet, and still the diamonds continue to be found as plentifully as ever. From the roadway above the marl is carted away to the sorting-tables, outside the range of the diggings, among mounds of marl stuff which seem like little hills. Here, amidst such whirls of dust as are nowhere else seen, the marl stuff is pounded, sifted from the finest powder of lime and clay, and from the residue put on the sorting-tables, the diggers, with a piece of zinc 9 inches long by 4 inches in breadth, search out in the successive layers taken from the heap the precious gems. I need not tell you that the search is by no means very perfect, or that perhaps as many diamonds escape the digger’s eye as are discovered and taken out by him, but you will perhaps confess with me that their aptness in picking out the diamonds is by no means to be despised, when I tell you that in one six months from the date of opening New Rush diggings, little short of a million sterling in diamonds has been extracted from them. At close of day the diggers take daily stock of their finds, and between five and six o’clock in the afternoon are to be seen hundreds and hundreds moving through the main street of New Rush on visits to the tents of the buyers, seated behind their little green baize tables, with scales all ready, and bags of gold and silver and piles of banknotes, to buy the little gems.”
It may help to realise the enormous value of the Kimberley Mine if I say that two claims, measuring together 62 by 31 feet and worked to a depth of 150 feet, yielded 28,000 carats of diamonds.
The roadways across the mine soon, however, became unsafe. Claims were sunk 100 or 200 feet each side of a roadway, and the temptation to undermine roadways was not always resisted. Falls of road frequently took place, followed by complete collapse, burying mine and claims in ruin. At that time there were probably 12,000 or 15,000 men at work in the mine, and then came the difficulty how to continue working the host of separate claims without interference with each other. A system of rope haulage was adopted.
The following description of the work at the Kimberley Mine at this stage of its history is given by Mr. Reunert:[4]
“A succession of tall, massive timber stagings was erected round the margin of the mine. Each staging carried two or three platforms one above the other, every platform serving as an independent level from which to communicate with the claims below. Stationary ropes were then stretched from the different levels of the stagings to the claims, the ropes being anchored to the ground at both ends: the upper platforms communicated with the claims in the centre of the mine, the lower platforms with those nearer the margin. The hauling ropes were attached to windlasses worked by Kafirs on the several platforms, on which grooved guide wheels for the ropes were also fixed, the buckets being swung from the stationary ropes by little overhead runners and crooks. Arrived at the level of the platform the bucket was tipped into a narrow shoot, down which the ground ran into a bag held ready to receive it, in which it was conveyed away to be sorted. The din and rattle of these thousands of wheels and the twang of the buckets along the ropes were something deafening, while the mine itself seemed almost darkened by the thick cobweb of ropes, so numerous as to appear almost touching. This mode of haulage continued in vogue during the whole of 1873, and if the appearance of the mine was less picturesque than when the roadways existed, it was, if anything, more unique. By moonlight, particularly, it was a weird and beautiful sight.”
The mine was now threatened in two other quarters. The removal of the blue ground took away the support from the walls of the pipe, and frequent falls of reef occurred, not only covering up valuable claims with rubbish, but endangering the lives of workers below. Moreover, as the workings deepened, water made its appearance, necessitating pumping. In 1878 one quarter of the claims were covered by reef, and in 1879 over £300,000 were spent on removing reef and water. In 1881 over £200,000 were thus spent, and in 1882 more than half a million sterling was needed to defray the cost of reef removal. So matters went on until four million cubic yards of reef had been removed, at a cost of two millions sterling, and still little good was done, for out of 400 claims in the mine only about fifty could be regularly worked. Ultimately, in November, 1883, the biggest fall of reef on record took place, estimated at 250,000 cubic yards, surging half across the mine, where the bulk of it lies to this day. It became evident that open workings could not be carried on at such depths, and after many experiments the present system of underground working was devised.
During this time of perplexity, individual miners who could easily have worked one or two claims near the surface could not continue work in the face of harassing difficulties and heavy expenses. Thus the claims gradually changed hands until the mine became the property first of a comparatively small number of capitalists, then of a smaller number of limited liability companies, until finally the whole of the mines have practically become the property of the “De Beers Consolidated Mines, Limited.”
[CHAPTER III]
KIMBERLEY MINES AT THE PRESENT DAY
The De Beers Consolidated Mines, Limited, was founded in 1888, mainly through the genius of the late Cecil John Rhodes, for the purpose of acquiring all-important diamond-mining interests in the Kimberley area and thereby controlling the output. The two richest mines, Kimberley and De Beers, have been actively worked ever since, and have been the main contributors to an output which now realises over five millions sterling annually. Dutoitspan Mine was completely closed down, and practically the whole of Bultfontein was kept idle for many years; but with a view to the requirements of the future and the marked increase in the demand for diamonds, notwithstanding the steady rise in prices that has taken place, both these mines have now been equipped for underground working on a grand scale. The youngest of the De Beers group of mines is the Wesselton, which was discovered in 1890 by the late Mr. H. A. Ward, and soon afterwards purchased by Mr. Rhodes on behalf of the Company. The mine is now being worked opencast on a magnificent scale and has largely exceeded original expectations ([Fig. 5]). The success of the consolidation is proved by the fact that since it was brought about £22,000,000 have been paid in dividends to the shareholders, and it is roughly estimated that 40,000,000 carats of diamonds have been produced of a total value of eighty millions.
FIG. 5. WESSELTON DIAMOND MINE. OPEN WORKINGS.
To face p. 34.
At the four mines about 8000 persons are daily employed, namely, 1500 whites and 6500 blacks. The wages are, whites, £5 or £6 a week; blacks, underground, 4s. to 5s. a day, and aboveground, 21s. a week.