PRINCIPAL SOUTH AFRICAN MINES 313
theless
it is confidently expected that it will be a factor in the diamond
market, as it will probably produce three to four hundred thousand
carats per annum. The crystals are usually small and of mediocre
quality. The average yield including 1909 has been a little over .19
carats per load. The year 1909 yielded a total profit of £53.870.
The
Koffyfontein continues to turn out in the neighborhood of ten thousand
carats monthly. The output for March, 1910, was 9,803 carats, which
were sold at an estimated profit of £7,500. At that time there were
over one million loads of blue ground on the floors.
The
" Frank Smith," and " Otto's Kopje " diamond mines, are situated in
Griqualand West, between the Vaal and Hart rivers about forty miles
from Kimberley. The former produced about 23,000 carats in 1904 and
1905 but did not pay and has been closed down. The latter from August,
1900, to July, 1902, produced diamonds which realized £21,425
exclusive of one of 336-1/2 carats. It did not pay and was closed at
that time and a proposition made to reorganize the company.
In
1909 in German South West Africa, 14 producers won 560,977 carats worth
£836,000. Eighty-five per cent, was sufficiently good to cut. The
average size of the stones was one-fifth of a carat. About eighty per
cent, of the output was sold in Antwerp and Brussels, the balance being
distributed in Amsterdam, Germany, London, New York and Paris. The net
profits after paying expenses and government charges amounted to
£34.500
Several large diamonds have been found in the Barkly
