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The Diamond 55
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vial
and in pipes at Rietfontein, near Pretoria. The properties of the
Transvaal Mining Company, now the Montrose, were discovered in 1898,
as were also those of the Schuller Company; both producing diamonds in
profitable quantity, although not comparably with the mines at
Kimberley. The Premier (Transvaal) Diamond Mining Company was
registered on December 1, 1902, with a capital of £80,000, so that it
had been in existence but about two years when it gave the world its
record diamond. The Boer War interfered with the development of the
mines in the Transvaal. During the year 1899 four companies were
registered. After the occupation of the Transvaal by the British,
forty-eight companies were registered in the years 1902 and 1903 with
an aggregate capital of nearly £2,000,000 sterling.
The new Premier mines are discussed by Mr. Gardner F. Williams in his The Diamond Mines of South Africa, in
which he expresses doubt that the rich alluvial diggings which resulted
from the open works initiated there betokened rich diamond bearing
pipes of blue ground. Although the reports of the company showed a
large total yield for the number of loads of ground sent to the washing
machines, it is
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