Ch. 13: Principal Diamond Mines of S. Africa

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	300 THE DIAMOND



	Two diamonds weighing 18-1/4 and 21 carats respectively, of a form rarely found in the African fields, were taken from this mine. They were cubes with beveled edges similar to many of the Brazilian crystals. The name " Wesselton " is now given to clean, well-made cut diamonds, with a quality rating between top crystal and Jagers. The Premier Diamond Mine. 1 The greatest known diamond mine in the world is the Premier of the Transvaal, South Africa. In extent it is nearly as large as the four De Beers Consolidated Mines combined, and though the yield of diamonds per load of diamondiferous material is not now as great as that of some others, its yield in the aggregate can be made at will much larger than that of any other, and at considerably less expense. The Premier of the Transvaal is sometimes called the New Premier, to distinguish it from the old Premier of the De Beers Consolidated Mines Co., now known as the Wesselton. It is situated in the Pretoria district of the Transvaal, near the railroad to Delagoa Bay, and twenty-one miles east of Pretoria. It was reached formerly by a wagon road from Van-der Merwe, a small station on the railroad seven miles away. In

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