PRINCIPAL SOUTH AFRICAN MINES 287
that the Dutoitspan and the Bultfontein are dipping towards each other at the low levels now being worked.
In
the first years of its history, this mine was not worked with the same
energy as the Kimberley and De Beers. It was not as rich in diamonds as
they, nor were there as many large stones found in it to excite hope.
The diggers hovered about the rich Kimberley, hoping to make a strike
there. When, however, the Kimberley diamond-bearing area became well
defined, and the surface was all taken up, the Bultfontein was worked
steadily with good results. Later, as a public demand for stock in
diamond mines developed, a number of companies were floated on this
field, and the various managements, in the effort to earn dividends,
prosecuted the work with vigor. In the eighties, after records were
kept, the output from this mine ranged from 500,000 to 700,000 carats
per annum, and sold for an average price of 18s. to 22s. per carat.
The
diamonds of the Bultfontein are usually small, white octahedrons. The
color is very good, but the majority are flawed. Colored stones are
rarely found in it.
As
the open workings were carried down, the same difficulties were
encountered in this as in the other mines. Falling reef, mud-rushes,
and a growing necessity for united action and large capital to cope
with the difficulties, made the work of most of the companies
unprofitable. In 1887 the open work had reached a depth of 460 feet,
and a large part of it was covered with fallen reef. Although the De
Beers Consolidated Mines Company, who already owned a large interest
in the mine, forced it into the amalgamation of 1889, it was evidently
