£16,000,000 IN DIAMONDS

Pahiatua Herald, Volume XXXVI, Issue 11026, 24 December 1928, Page 7

£16,000,000 IN DIAMONDS

COST OF FINDING ONLY £1 for EACH £l5O. A competent authority estimates that the Government has secured £5.000,000 or £6,000,000, and will finally secure £16,000,000 from the Namaqualand diamond field, south of the mouth of the Orange river. Impossibility of smuggling from Government fields is emphasised. Such small leakage as has occurred was due to the fact that stones were found surreptitiously in other parts of the Namaqualand district. Jt is authoritatively stated that the Government wjll not put stones upon the market in quantities likely to disturb prices. -Leakages hitherto reported refer to parcels of stones valued at £50,000 t 0 £IOO.OOO. These were seized and confiscated, and some arrests were made. An Exchange Telegraph estimate is that stones worth £6,000,000 hale been received I»y the Government from the “diggings” at a cost of £40,000. Stories of extensive smuggling are resented by the diggers, all of whom are closely watched. Th e men must not put their hands in their pockets during their work, and they are not allowed to leave the barbed wir e enclosure until the conclusion of their six months’ contract.