Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-10-11

fifty and sixty million more loads ir
sight In the De Beers mine there are
more than five million loads yet to be
taken out above the 2.OO0-foot level, and
in the Kimberley more than thirteen hun
dred thousand above the 2,JOO-foot level
which we have now reached. In the Yves
selton there are ten million loads above the
5O0-fo level and in the Dutoitspan
thirty-one million loads above the 100
foot level. while the amount in the Bull
fOntein mine above the 69O-foot level to
which we have sunk the shaft Is about
seventy-eight hundred thousand loads All
told we have somewhere between sixty
and seventy million loads of blue ground
on our floors and in sight. The total
amount washed and crushed last year was
over five and one-half million loads, and
about twenty-eight million dollars. At the
same rate OF washing the blue on the
floors and in sight would last for over
eleven years and would produce consider
ably over three hundred million dollars
worth of diamonds"
Have you yet reached a point In any
of the pipes where the diamonds have
played out % / asked.
mo. The number and value of the
stones in the various pipes have not in
creased as we have gone down. but they
hold their own. At the Kimberley mine we
kre now working a half mile below the
grass roots. and he tlue ground there
is about as rich In amends as 1t was
Ill the WY OOWH HI rtlc DS lbccTS We
are down 1000 feet. and il the s<imber-
ley and the De i;eers they have been
working almost constantly for thirty SIX
years. and 1t IS believed that the mines
have still a long life before them. The
Wesselton, Bulfontein and Dutoitspan
have altogether an area about four and
one-half times as large as The kimcor-
ley and De Beers combined, and, al
though an enormous amount OF dt;,-
monds have been taken from them
Sfi or
ground above the 500. 800 and 100 foo;
levels. There is no reason to think that
the diamonds may not go as far down
In these pipes as in the De Bees and
there Will be no diamond famine for
many. many years to come"
Diamond Pipes.
Tell me something about these dia-
mond pipes? Do they occur anywhere
else in the world than here?"
Yes. There are some others I'm South
Africa, notable one being the Premier
diamond mine near Pretoria. There are
similar pipes near Syracuse, N. Y. and
elsewhere, but, with the exception of
South Africa, the ground within the
pipes does not contain diamonds I
undo. stand that the Brazilian diamonds
arc found in q sort of springy sand
stone
Are the pipes regular in shape"
NO; they vary as they go downward.
The Kimberley mine at the top is
shaped like pear. At a depth of a few
hundred feet it becomes somewhat like
a gour I, and it changes II goes on.
In some places the rocky walls bulge
out and in others they contract, so that
we cannot tell just how they will run,
although their direction is compare
lively straight
There is one thing that should be
said in respect to the diamonds of this
part of the world" continued Mr.. Will
liams. The mining of them is a low
grade proposition, and it pays well only
because it is scientifically and economi-
cally handled, and that on large scale
Indeed. it is wonderful how much work
it takes to get out the diamonds. In
the Dutoitspan We have to handle four
tons of earth to every carat: and 1t Is
about as bad in the Kimberley. Now,