The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1904-02-24
TRANSVAAL DIAMOND LAW
WORSE THAN KRUGER'S
Owners Are Angry Because 1t Is
More Onerous than that of
the Beers.
BEST YEAR IN HISTORY

In kimberley say this year can nafuly sur
pass it. The great prosperity in the United
States, they say, the cause of the
great trade and largest profits in the his
tory of the field. They declare that the
stock of diamonds in America is so large
that the business this year will suffer
from it.
The general public has very hazy ideas of
the size of the diamond fields and the i'm
mense profits reaped by close syndicate.
The Kimberley diamond mine had origi-
nally 800 claims. The Premier mine, near
Pretoria, has about 1900. These figures will
convey to the lay mind some idea of the
enormous area of the Transvaals and the
worlds greatest diamond mine. In one
other respect a comparison between De
Beers and the Premier brings the latter out
on top. De Beers's output last year was
&c carat per load; the Premier for recent
period, showed Lee carat per load Qrom
yellow ground), and, whatever may ulu-
mately be found to be a fair average yield,
taking one year with another, it is not ex-
pected to be less than double that shown
by the De Beers Company.
There was a better way TO get at the ex-
tent Of the business of the rival fields-that
of comparative values per carat. In this
the Premier is shown to be weak.
De Beers's stones last year realized an
average of 1.62 per carat. Premier stones
were worth only 1918 per carat, SCHUYLER
and Kaalfonten stones are of the same low
value, and ByeneSpoort also. 1t is true the
cost OF production at the De Beers mines
is high, on account of the great depth at
which mining is carried on, being at the
rate of $50 per carat, as against Sl.Z5 at
the Premier and Schullers and $3.50 at
Byenespoort. But, even after making al
lowance for the difference in the cost OF
production, the comparison is wholly In
favor of De Beers. which can look upon
the inevitable cutting of prices at some
future day with comparative equanimity.
A cut of S. per carat would still leave
De Beers net profit of 1913 per carat,
whereas the Premier's profit would be near
the vanishing point. In the event or
diamond war there is not a Transvaal mine
that would not have to succumb before the
higher grade mines of Kimberley.
diamond rate cutting war at some not
distant date is only too probable when one
reflects upon the recent discoveries In the
Transvaal and the great possibility or otner
pipes being discovered in the same district.
Unlike gold, diamonds can only be absorbed
in strictly limited quantities. AT present
prices the worlds consumption of diamonds
is only $25,000O00 per annum. The De Beers
Company, single handed, could do far more
than meet the demand, and only by rigidly
curtailing the output is the price kept up.
What is going to happen when a new factor
like Premier mine is turning out diamonds
on large scale? 1t is reckoned that down
to the 100 feet level the mine will give TWEEN
ty million loads. Even at only one carat
per load-and this is probable under the
mark-the output will be twenty million car
ats and the profit Cat present prices Sl10,-
| 100000. This reads like an Arabian tale.
TECHNICAL QUESTION.
This reference to the contents of the
Premier mine in the first hundred feet opens
| up a technical question on which the reader
not versed in mining, and particularly dia-
| ;nfp &c 81 fol
The overflow at the surface must not be
COMPOUNDED with the extent of the pipe or
crater. The mining area at Kimberley mine.
at a depth of 400 feet, has gradually shrunk
to quarter of its original size. There were
| originally over 900 claims worked; now in
| the deeper levels there are less than eighty,
| and similarly with other diamond mines
| The overflow at the surface in the case OF
| the Kimberley mine, where denudation had
been actively at work. From data obtained
| by means of shafts and bore holes, it is es-
| timated that at the 500-foot level the
| Premier mine will have contracted to an
area Of rather more than 470 claims, but this
| is still enough to retain for it the reputa-
ton of being by far the biggest diamond
| mine in the world
The diamondiferous deposits cover a very
| wide district and the chances are in favor
| OF further discoveries being made. Many
! companies and many individual prospectors
| are at work and the presence of the gems
| scattered points argues in favor of add
| tional pipes or craters being located The
| Pretoria District Diamond Company, work
| ing the western half of the farm on which
| the Premier is situated, and also the farm
| Byenespoort, still further west have treated
a large quantity Of surface-wash and with
| very satisfactory results. There vast
| Accommodations of alluvial or Surface-waSl
| on the property, but no pipe has yet beer
| discovered, and the deposits are probably
| the overflow from the Premier.
| To the southwest of the SCHILLER nina
| and owning a portion of the same farm
| Q3ietfondtein), the Kaalfontein Diamond
mines are also turning out a fair quantity
| of stones. 1t is generally believed that q
| section of the SCHUYLER No. 2 pipe extends
into kaalfontein. Another company which
has good output to show is the Montrose
Diamond mines, owning Wryneb imme-
| diately to the north of the SCHUYLER prop
| erty. This is the property that j. Il. Rob
inson was at one time connected with and
| it is stated that his prospectors obtained
| 10000 carats from 1900 loads. This prop
| erty, like most others in the district has
| so far, nothing more permanent to show
| than Surface-waSh.
The new diamond ordinance in the Trans
| vaal Is variously regarded according TO the
point of view from which one looks at it
Up till 1898 diamonds came under the scope
of the gold law, but the discoveries of 1S9
| led to the passing of law No. % of 1898
| under which owners of diamond farms were
| treated somewhat drastically The mvn
pacht was reduced to one-eighth Of thu
proved diamondiferous area, Oelng all tn,
| owner could claim, with a minimum to tn,
| owner and discoverer generally the sam,
| person. of 120 claims. On the whole the
| drift of the 1898 law was confiscatory, in
| keeping with Mr.. Kruger's entire policy a.
| that time, but il reserved to the owner of
| diamond farm one valuable right, namely
the power of selection, so that the eighth
selected could be located in the center of tn,
pipe and might probably take up the Who'll,
of the permanent area of the mine.
NEW DIAMOND LAW.
The new diamond ordinance, which becam,
law last July, increases the owners shar,
of the diamondiferous area to 40 per cent.
but ii takes away his right of selection
Further the balance of claims over. nov
amounting to GO per cent, is no longer to b,
handed over to the public to peg out" OF
to be distributed by lottery. The State will
remain the predominant partner in the Pre-
mier mine, retaining a 60 per cent. interes
| against the shareholders 40 per cent TIL,
| latter Will find the capital, and the net prof
| its, after allowing for interest and amorti
| sation, Will be distributed between the Stat,
| and the shareholders in the proportion o
60 TO 10 per cent.
| These are the outstanding features of tn
| new diamond law. Owners of damon,
| farms complain that il is even more confis
! catory than Mr. kruger's law of 1898 Thei
strong point Is that ii takes away the RICH
| of selection. Owing TO the tendency of al
diamond mines TO shrink or contract to
limited area at a moderate depth. thi
| power of selection is most valuable and
with the right to a minimum OF a hun
| dred claims under the new law, the OWne