90 
THE GREAT KIMBERLEY DIAMOND MINE. 
The excavated material when brought up to the surface is 
removed to a depositing ground, a separate ground being 
allotted for each claim, and the “stuff” is there laid out 
upon a floor in a layer of four to six inches thickness and 
watered about every three to six days to cause the material 
to slack. It is left exposed to the air for a period of four to 
six weeks and is then passed through the washing and sifting 
machines, and the contained diamonds are obtained by their 
settling down at the bottom of the last machine, the diamonds 
being a much higher specific gravity than any other materials 
with which they are associated in the stuff; the deposited 
material is afterwards passed over sorting tables, where the 
managers and proprietors of the claim pick out the diamonds. 
One great difficulty that has been experienced in this 
washing process has been the scarcity of water in the district 
and the great difficulty of obtaining the supply of water 
requisite for the washing of the stuff; the river Vaal being 
24 miles off, and the elevation of the whole district more 
than 3,000ft. above the sea. A Kimberley Water-works has 
consequently been constructed and started in the last two 
years, by which water is supplied at the comparatively 
moderate rate of Is. per 100 gallons. There lias also been, 
in connection with these diamond mines, a large application 
of mechanical skill in devising the hauling and washing 
apparatus for obtaining the best results with the greatest 
economy in weight of material employed in the construction, 
on account of the great difficulties and limitation in the means 
of conveyance to the place; and also for obtaining the greatest 
economy in the fuel consumed for the engine power obtained, 
the scanty natural supply of wood in the district having 
become nearly exhausted and the supply of coal being very 
costly. Mr. Paxman, of Leeds, has done much in improving 
the supply of engines and machinery for these diamond mines, 
and gave a paper on the subject to the Institution of Civil 
Engineers, from which some of the particulars in the present 
paper have been obtained. 
All claims “ fall in” or revert to the Government if the 
mining licenses and taxes are not continued to be paid ; but 
a very special and almost romantic circumstance to be 
noticed in connection with the Kimberley mine is that the 
original allotment of claims being for a definite area, each 
including all the produce of digging within that area, and not 
having any limit as to depth of excavation, those of the 
original claims situated towards the right hand (eastern) margin 
of the field, although they utterly failed in results after having 
passed through the top “ Yellow” diamantiferous stuff, will 
