The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1901-02-18
MINING DIAMONDS
AT KIMBERLEY
n.ondon Telegranh.l

Oondon Telegraph)
The methods OF compelling mother |
earth to disgorge her hidden stores OF |
wsalth-be it in the form of diamonds /
gold. silver, copper or coal-appear TO |
be much the same everywhere You
first find your mine your reef or crater
of blue clay as it is at Kimberley ana /
then you bore a hole down TO IT. when
you call a shaft. Sometimes, as az
kimberley. you can begin at the top
but, sooner or later, you have 10 resort
to burrOwing latersily or perpehqlCu-
larly Then tine thing you are III
search Of is wound up on pulley
over 2 wheel such as you see IN any
train journey through the MldlandS
and the north of Ems and
The blue clay-as everyone knows by
this time%is found IN circular pl1S
(once craters) filed up from an uh-
known depth; they have rot touehed
bottom at 1900 feet The inclosInS
walls are basalt and then layer OF
shale is superposed. In the open, OF
through shafts, the clay IS blasted ana
carried on trucks, by endless Wires, 70
the floors" The Trans run on dOuDie
lines, one set Of trucks carrying the
| clay, the other returning empty Inc
/ floors constitute one of the most IN
/ teresting features of the place me
| earth which contains the diamonds De
| comes very IEldDtE wien e-Nt'--~e-
/ sun and air and cTumDles like loam-
/ The harder rock. consolidated under
! tremendous pressure, has to be puiVef-
/ lied nv crushing Thousands of acres
are incIOsed by barbed wire fenclnS-a
much disguised blessing of South Al
rica-and there, hidden in the mouiueI
ing earth are hundreds Of thousands
of pounds worth of precious stones.
| Some of course, become detached ana
are picked up by the boys" and gen
orally accounted for, though, In spite
of the necessarily stringent l. y. Is.
laws, it is difficult to believe that none
fails to reach the sorting house
When sunshine and atmosphere have
done their work, the decomposed clay
is taken back from the floors and COM
mitted to the pulsators. The matter is
! shot into receivers and passes down
to the pulsatOr, a graduated plane OF
| metal, which, Is the name implies, Is
shaken by machinery lateraIly, as 9
man shakes a sieve in his hand The
different steps of the putSatOr are Gov
cred with grease, 10 which the dia-
mOnds-at least, all of any siZe-ad-
here as the broken clay rushes OYel
mingled with a stream of water. The
z top step generally manages TO cater
the larger stones, and very few escape
( | to the lowest grade. The refuse, now
4 / ever, is all carefully hand-sOrted by
5 natives, whose natural quicknesS %
-, / eye and deftness of finger have beef
improved by long practice. Many o
- the hands so employed are cOnVlcts
. ! hired by the government TO 1he com
; Dany. These victims of ciVliiZa ton
: most of them are guileless of any Grim
: inal ppearance-much prefer this WOrl
4 TO the dull IBOnOtOny OF prison lab
|. The sight of these cOnvicts engaged II
$ sorting out minute gems from the dros
: might suggest many reflections. IN
=. | contrast is the most striking; at on
r end of lhe scale diamonds representa-
= the highest luxury of civilization. a
r the other the native to whom EurOpea
; / culture means the magistrate and IN
4 politician. However, If the nativ
N criminal mOralizes-Which / am sur
5, ! that. as a rule he is far too sensible [
n do-he can chuckle at the idea tina
g each stone he extracts may easily prov
y an incentive to his fellows on a highe
5 plane TO go and do likewise
al The sticky matter, holding little bl
81 the gems. is thoroughly washed on
Id and the deposit is ready for the sorte
10 Diamonds are by no means unlOveI
80 in their uncut condition, and there
es no mistaking the slightly greasy fee
II ing of the real gem, due. 1 am told
ls its incompatible hardness The stOnt
u, ( are then inspected and weighed, dr.
ne are ticketed according to their vail
ed in little heaps on a counter of the sOr
n ing room. Thus, the first heap of
40 weeks cleanup will contain. pc
a. haps, a dozen large diamonds, perfe
adj in shape and color and without tiay
they may be of any value from e
TO $4,000. Then come smaller ones
the same spOtless character; next
80 value are the large yellow stones; tn
ID the fawed whites, and so on down
the caps of tiny gems like cOar
sc sugar white and brown. Rough
to there were, l suppose, some &6O,C
: worth on the counter, representing Z
he output Of several days The compal
N does not, of course, cut its own oil
de monds-that is a special industry
us Amsterdam-nor do they sell them {
no rectIy to the diamond merchants.
ie- syndicate contracts to take the who
ne | product of the mines at fixed price
TT 50 much caTat-and as, owing to t
e1 war and other causes, diamonds ha
ne been very, very dear lately, the sy
as dictate must have made large prOh