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Orange
Free State Inspector of Mines, in the laying out of claims on the
Colesberg Kopje. His authority was then so far recognized that his
direction controlled the survey and opening, on July 21, 1871, of the
diggings since famous as the Kimberley Diamond Mine.
Roadways,
15 feet in width, running approximately north and south, were carried
across the longer axis of the diamond bed, at a distance of 47 feet
from one to the other. Each road cut 7-12 feet of surface ground from
the side of the bordering
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claims,
so that the working surface of each allotted claim was 31 by 23-1/2
feet. Fourteen of these roadways crossed the mine, whose ground surface
permitted the laying out of about 430 claims of the allotted size, 31
feet square. A great many more claims had been granted to
license-holders before the survey, for there had been no accurate
measurement of the kopje, and there was a consequent overlapping and
conflict of locations and spreading of claims beyond the limits of the
diamond-bearing ground. In the settlement of contests the claims were
split up by concessions, bargains, and sales, until there were not less
than 1600 separate holdings of claims, and fractional parts running as
small as 1/16, or about 7 square yards. A lucky claim-holder
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