The average yield at that time was, it is claimed, about three-quarters of a carat to the load.
Not
only was the Dutoitspan the first of the Kirn-berley mines discovered,
but it is also much the largest. The original locations numbered 1,441
claims, equal to about 23-1/2 acres; nearly four times as many as on
the Kimberley pipe, but none of the Kimberley pipes are as large as the
first locations indicated, because some were outside the
diamond-bearing area. Like the others, it began with individual
diggers, then the grouping of claims in the hands of small owners and
speculators who floated them into stock companies, and in turn
consolidated, until at the time of the De Beers Consolidation in
1889, " The Griqualand West Mining Company " owned about half the
pipe. Cecil Rhodes said of the mine, " It is too poor to work, and too
rich to allow others to acquire it," and for that reason it was forced
into the Consolidation. Those who opposed the amalgamation, claimed
that the De Beers people wanted it in order to close the mine. Barnato,
on behalf of the De Beers, denied any such intention, saying that the
government would not permit it and also that the licenses due the
London and South African Exploration Company amounted to such a large
sum that it would not pay to do so. The mine was practically closed at
that time as far as open working was concerned. Heavy falls of reef had
materially damaged it. What diamonds were being taken out cost about
the same as they brought, viz.: 6s. to 7s. per load. The De Beers
argued that if the various owners could not make it pay with open
working they certainly could not with the more expensive underground
system. A majority of the owners agreed;
