The Worthington advance. [volume] (Worthington, Minn.) 1874-1908, 1900-06-15
DIAMONDS IN BRAZIL.
There Arc Plenty of Mines and Pre-.
ciOus Stones, But the Industry
LanEuixhe8.


ley have been producing about $4,000,
600 worth of gems year, the industry
in Brazil, formerly the most impor.
tant diamond-producing country in the
world, has fallen to a low ebb. 1t is now
carried on only by individuals Or small
associations working in crude man
ner. The yield was never much over
81, 100000 in any year, and the product
is now worth annually less than $780,
600; and yet the quality of the Brazil
stones average higher than that of the
Kimberley output, says the New York
Sun.
The reason for the decline of the
Brazil industry is partly beca-se it is
carried on in a shiftless way, but most.
ly on account of the immense output OF
Kimberley, which has glutted the mar.
ket and practically crowded tn. Brazil
mines to the wall. Brazil gems rarely
leave the country until they arc ready
for the jewelers., for they are cut either
at Diamantina Gouvea or Rio de Jan.
Giro; while the Kimberley stones are
sent to the London market in March
every year, and are then distributed to
the diamond cutters of Holland and
Belgium.
Brazil, however, has practically a
monopoly of the carbonate or black
diamond which is used in diamond
drills and for other abrasive purposes.
, 1t is found, to be sure, in Cape Colony
and some other places, but is CONNER
cia]ly important only in Brazil.
There is marked difference between
the conditions under which the dia-
mond is found in South Africa and in
Brazil. At Kimberley most of the gems
are taken from the thick strata of a
rotten rock forming a blue clay.
through which the rough gems are scat
| tered; and the mining is carried on sim
ply by digging up this blue clay and
passing it through washing machines
which separate the gems from the
earth. Diamonds are also found in the
bed of the Vaal river and two or three
other places, but nearly all the gems
that reach Europe come from the ia
nous Kimberley formation.
On the other hand, the Brazil di.,-
monds are scattered over a large part
of the central region of the great
archaean formation, which is spread
over nearly the whole area of the south
ern tributaries of the Amazon. Enor-
nous quantities of the precious stones
| are doubtless imbe6ded in this hard
rock. but the diamonds had been
worked very little outside the alluvial
lands to which they have been carried
in the beds of streams from the an
Gent formation in which they orig.
mated. Thus they are found in the
| stream beds of Minas Garaes (many
mines). Bahia. Goyaz and Matte eros.
/ so. The diggings now in operation are
chiefly in the state O.: Bahia, where
during the dry season the little water
remaining in one or smother small
stream is turned out of it's channel
and the gravel is sifte>l for the gems
it may contain. The work goes on
without much method s,r energy until
the rains come, when the diamond dig.
ger takes vacation and work is not
resumed until the next dry season.
In $50 years of mining operations
Brazil has yielded about $100,OO0,00O
worth of gems or total output, which
Is equaled every six or seven years by
the product of the Kimberley mines.
| The African diamonds are commonly
admitted to be less beautiful than
those from Brazil. but their total sale
already exceeds by millions the value
F.; of all the gems Brazil has produced
though African diamond mining hae
been carried on only about 80 years.