A CUT P. VED WITH DIAMONDS.

Bay of Plenty Times, Volume XXII, Issue 3467, 26 October 1896, Page 6

A CUT P. VED WITH DIAMONDS.

When in the early seventies the four great Ki.nberly mine* wer - dii-covf re-?, the i-'nura.-rabi*.---.igge'B who rushed to the nt-v Eldorado found themselves seriously handicapped owing to the scarcity of water. Water ie indispensable to the saccessful working of diamond-iferous ground. ' Dry sortirg *asit iB called, wbich the Kimberly i pioneers were compelled to resort to during the first two years, involved a great loss of diamonds, thousands having been lost in this manner. The ground thus Borted became known as debris, huge mounds of which cau still be seen ab<<ut tbe mines. When Kimberly was created a municipality and' proper roadways constructed, it was found that this debris made excellent pavement, and miles of Kimberly t-treets were paved with this refuse from the mines. The amnlgamation of the mines in 1887, followed by the shutting down of two mines, threw a great many diggers out of work, causing a great deal of distress. This caused attention to be drawn to the dormant wealth of the Kimberley pavements. The Town Council decided to gradually parcel out portions of tie streets among tbe unemployed, and this has been going on up t < the present time. The pavem9t*t is broken up, then washed and carefully sorted for diamonds, upwards of £40,000 worth of diamonds having been thus recovered in one year alone. As showing the loss entailed by the old dry-sorting process from 20 \ to over 100 carat diamonds bave been f.-und in this debris. As much as £20.000 worth of diamondthave been recovered out of a patch 100 feet square. Diamonds are picked up in the streets of Kimberly almost daily, especially after a rainfall, and the diamonds still contained in tKe pavements are estimated at a fabulous sum. ~-