SOUTH AFRICA

A History of Diamond Production: South Africa: Diamonds by the Ton

Until 1870, every diamond ever found came from a secondary source such as a river bed or some area of weathered rock containing diamonds. South Africa, which was to emerge as the greatest diamond producer in history, was at first no exception to this rule. The first diamonds found there in 1867 were alluvial stones—just like those from India and Brazil. And so it went with each successive discovery there for the next three years. Then, in 1870, the first primary deposit was found on the Jagersfontein farm in the Orange Free State. Within a month, a second deposit was found near what was to become the town of Kimberly in the Cape Colony. Two more mammoth finds followed in 1871.

Suddenly, the world was awash in diamonds from kimberlite pipes. What’s more, South Africa was on the verge of producing more stones in a decade than had been found in the preceding 2,000 years. Between 1870 and 1880, annual production skyrocketed from 100,000 to 3 million carats. Despite the fact that there had been mushrooming demand for diamonds throughout the 19th century, there was simply no way to absorb such a glut. Not only would South Africa rewrite the rules for diamond mining, it would rewrite the rules for diamond marketing. From this point on, the diamond story is as much about revolutions in capitalism as it is revolutions in geology. Overnight, a coveted rarity had become a commodity requiring centralized control of supply if prices were to be stabilized and confidence in this gem maintained.

That’s why the history of South African diamond mining is inextricably linked with the history of the De Beers diamond monopoly. (click here for the stormy saga “The De Beers Story”) You can detour there now or continue reading about the history of diamond production.