|
CHAPTER XII
WINNING THE DIAMONDS
T
has been shown how resourceful engineering mastered the problem of the
extraction of the diamond-bearing deposits swiftly and systematically,
without injury to the mines. It was no less essential to advance and
perfect the process of the winning of the diamond from the mass of
extracted blue ground with corresponding speed and efficiency. For the
handling of the mammoth bulk of breccia, through which the tiny,
precious crystals were sprinkled in a proportion so infinitesimal,
there was a practical call for every feasible stretch of invention in
transportation, concentration, assorting of sizes, and final separation
of the gems. The indispensable reconciliation of thoroughness in
extraction with rapidity in working over the ground made the task
greatly perplexing. It was only through years of experimenting and
progressing from imperfect to improved designs that the present great
diamond-winning plant of the mines was evolved. If this is still short
of ideal suitability to the work, it is simply fair to observe how vast
is the stride that has actually been made in a few recent years in
diamond-winning methods, from the primitive Indian wooden shovels and
drying mats, and the water holes and shaking plates of the Brazilian.
As
fast as the blue ground is dumped automatically from the skips into the
ore bins, it is carried away in trucks by an endless wire rope haulage,
driven by steam, to the depositing floors. These floors are made by
removing the bush and grass from fairly level stretches of ground.
After clearing the face of the ground, it is hardened and smoothed with
heavy rollers until it
|
||
|
|
||