Quantcast
  We apologize for any slow response. This will be fixed before October 31st Portal logo
Login/Register
Bactrian Gold Treasure from Afghanistan, coming soon....
/gemstones/streeter-precious-stones/page_115 - 2
 

Sec. II, Ch. 3: The Australian Diamond

Sec. II, Ch. 3: The Australian Diamond Page of 366 Sec. II, Ch. 3: The Australian Diamond Text size:minus plus Restore normal size   Mail page  Print this page
100
Australian Diamonds.
visited the field 42 loads of drift had yielded 600 carats of Diamonds. One load of wash-dirt, of exceptional richness, yielded no fewer than 515 Diamonds, of the aggregate weight of 184 carats. The Diamonds are described as similar in size and quality to those found on the Bingara Field.
In 1897 a London Company was formed for the purpose of working these and other deposits of Diamonds in New South Wales, under the name of "the Inverell Diamond Fields, Limited," with Mr. C. Barrington Brown, as consulting engineer. The Diamonds hitherto obtained have been only of small size, but they are extremely hard, and when cut exhibit exceptional brilliancy.
At the Mining Exhibition held at the Crystal Palace in 1890, Professor Liversidge, of Sydney, exhibited some interesting Diamonds from New South Wales, including a crystal from the Lachlan River, and a black Diamond from Mudgee.
Compared with the Diamond discoveries in New South Wales, those of other parts of Australia sink into insignifi­cance. South Australia is rich in mineral treasure : but this treasure mostly takes the form of ores of copper and iron ; yet the colony is not without its gold-fields, and with the gold a few Diamonds have been found, In the year 1852, Diamonds were discovered in alluvial gold washings in the hills near Echunga, rather less than twenty miles south-east of Adelaide. It is said that more than a hundred Diamonds have at different times been found in this neighbourhood. Sir Arthur Blyth, then Agent-General for South Australia, exhibited about twenty Diamonds from Echunga at the Paris exhibition of 1878. One octahedral crystal weighed 5-5/16 carats, and another 3-1/2 carats. Mr. Dodd who reported on them, called attention to their
Sec. II, Ch. 3: The Australian Diamond Page of 366 Sec. II, Ch. 3: The Australian Diamond
Table Of Contents bullet Annotate/ Highlight
Streeter: Precious Stones and Gems
Suggested Illustrations
Other Chapters you may find useful
Other Books on this topic
bullet Tag
This Page