Diamond rush
New diamond discovery triggering an onrush of miners seeking their fortune
A diamond rush is a period of feverish migration of workers to an area where diamonds were newly discovered. Major diamond rushes took place in the late 19th and early 20th centuries in South Africa and South-West Africa.
01Diamond rushes by chronology
- In 1871, the discovery of an 83.50 carat (16.7 g) diamond on the slopes of Colesberg Kopje on the farm Vooruitzigt in South Africa led to the foundation of Kimberley Mine, and eventually the town of Kimberley. This diamond rush was termed the "New Rush", as diamond prospectors were already operating in the country.
- In 1908, the discovery of a diamond near Grasplatz station in German South-West Africa caused a diamond rush, which led to the development of the town of Lüderitz and several mining settlements to come into existence - to be abandoned eventually to become ghost towns.
- In the 1990s, several frequency domain heliborne electromagnetic anomalies were discovered by Charles E. Fipke around Lac de Gras, a lake in the Northwest Territories of Canada. Several mines were established, leading to the Canada diamond rush.
Sources and credits
This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article “Diamond rush”, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.
Images, from Wikimedia Commons:
- DF1873 The New Rush market.jpg by Unknown author, Public domain
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