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300 THE DIAMOND
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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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