|
THE BOOK OF DIAMONDS
London's Diamond Trading Company, Ltd., whose members own the British mines and hold contracts with the rest.
Until
a few years ago, the mining of diamonds in South Africa was entirely in
the hands of a very limited number of mining companies, but at that
time new alluvial fields were suddenly discovered near the Orange River
which brought in a rush of prospectors similar to the first rush over
fifty years ago. The region was thrown open to the public on a fixed
day and hour when thousands of miners, including women, lined up ready
for the rush. At the signal to start, they swarmed over the field in
automobiles, on horseback and afoot in feverish haste to stake their
claim, but this time there was no shooting as before. Mushroom towns
sprang up in the space of a few days, in spite of the fact that all
construction material had to be brought from a great distance. The land
in this section is without trees or vegetation of any kind. Instead of
wood the shacks had to be built of corrugated iron, hauled many miles
from the railroad terminus. Another serious problem was the lack of
water supply. All of the water had to be brought in tanks over land for
a distance of twenty miles. These fields, as well as all of the large
diamond mining properties in South Africa, are affiliated in one way or
another with the London Diamond Syndicate which fixes the price of
rough diamonds and controls their marketing in London. The mines ship
only according to the Syndicate's order, so that there is never the
slightest chance of over production.
Before very long the diamond industry may find itself
5°
|
||
|
|
||