Arizona weekly citizen., 1889-06-22
DIAMOND MINRS
PRECIOUS STONES FOUND IN THE
 REGIONS OF GOLcONpA

 PRECIOUS STONES FOUND N THE
 REGIONS OF eoLcoNDA.
 Yield of the Mines of India and sf Bra.
 zil-The Famous Kimberly-Nsw South
 Wales and Borneo-Csylon's Valuable
 Gems.
 There are in India three extensive tracts, widely separated from one another, in which the diamond has been sought for. The name of Golconda, originally applied to capital town (now a deserted fort in the neighborhOod of Hyderabid), seems to have been used for a whole kingdom; but the town itself is many miles distant from the nearest diamond mines, and it was only the mart where the precious stones were bought and sold. The second great tract occupies an immense area between the Mahanuda and the Godavery rivers; and the third great tract is situated in Bundelcund, near the capital of which Punnah-some of the mines are found. For those content with a slowly paying occupation and hard life, involving close supervision of the workers, diamond min- ing will pay, provided such persons pos- sess capital sufficient to last them few years. The diamonds now are usually brought from Parteal, close to the south ern portion of the NiZam's dominions. The deepest pits are not more than twelve feet. The matrix of the diamond in those localities is 8 conglomerate sandstone The appliances of modern machinery for excavation, etc., directed by men of sci s-IA that have not been discovered by the rude native processes of search.
 It would be curious to ascertain tho yield of diamonds in the east from thoss mines in the last $50 years, and of Brazil in the last 150 years since the discovery there; but no such data are obtainable, nor indeed can any reliable estimate bs formed of the value of the diamonds owned in different countries.
 From the four principal mines in Gri qualand (which all lie within circle with @ diameter of three miles,, calculating the amount of diamondiferous ground re- moved and the known average yield per load in each, it is found that not less than e3, 000, 900 carats of diamonds tor more than 1-2 tons weight) must have been extracted since the first discovery, realiz- Ing in round numbers e40, O0O, 900.
 THE FAMOUS KIMBERLEY.
 The yield of diamonds from the Kimber. ley mine alone, from the opening in 1871 to the end of 1885, is stated to have ex- ceeded IF, 500, 900 carats, equal to three and one-half tons weight of precious stones, in value about e20, 900, 900. To obtain this, as many thousand tons of reef and ground have had to be excavated. The mine is 450 feet deep, and the cubical contents of this huge cavity measures about 9,OCO, 900 cubic yards. Four thous. and Kaffirs are employed at this mine, and more than 10000 natives of Africa arrive yearly at the mines in search of work; so that the employment of native labor and the development of native trade gre incidental benefits conferred on South Africa by the discovery of the diamond fields.
 The Dutch government are the owners Of the diamond mines in Borneo, which are situated in the district of Landak, in the territory of Ponteyanak; they are worked by Dyaks and Malays, but with far superior skill by the Chinese. The gems are found in a yellow colored gravel, at depths ranging to sixty feet. Ad. vances are made to the miners, who are bound to deliver all stones at 20 per cent. below their market value.
 Diamond mining in New South Wales Is likely to become of much importance, and the colonists are sanguine of being able to compete with South Africa in this trade Twelve thousand diamonds have been obtained up to the present time, chiefly from the tertiary gravels and re- cent drifts in the Bingera, Inveren and Chittagong districts. The largest dia- mond yet found weighed 16.2 grains, Of about 5-8 carats. They are of good color and quality. Companies with large capital arc forming to buy up and work the extensive diamond fields in Bingera. Other gem stones found in that colony arc garnets, the common emerald egreen beryD, Oriental emerald green sapphire). royal blue sapphire, white and pale. blue topaz and agates.
 CEYLON's PRECIOUS STONES.
 Ceylon has always had reputation for its richness in precious stones. Inferior Kinds, such as the moonstone and the garnet. are found in the beds of streams about Randy, Newara Eleya, Badulla and some of the small rivers of the south; but the more precious stones, such as the ruby, the blue sapphire, the Oriental topaz of various yellows, the Alexandrite and the scat'S eye, must be sought within a radius of thirty or forty miles from Ratns- pura, the city of gems.
 The search for gem stones is carried on in the most primitive manner in Ceylon. The soil, supposed to be rich in precious stones, is rented for an annual sum from 1 the government. Coolies are set to work | to dig the earth, which is heaped up on one side, and then washed through trough with variously sized perforated | zinc stops, which retain all stones, accord | ing to their sizes. These are placed on a | table or flat surface, and the gems are | easily distinguished and picked out. The proportion of gems capable of being cut | and really marketable is not more than | per cent.
 Of the siliceous gems. the amethyst, of | a purplish violet hue, is the most valu- | able. The best amethysts are brought | from Cambay in India, and from Siberia, Ceylon and Persia, where they are found | both lining the cavities of geodes and in | rolled masses. The chief supply of the blue turquoise is drawn from the peninsula of | Sinai, the great mining district of the an- cient gyptians.-Professor P L. Sim monde In Iourpol of tba Coo;a$,r of