The Big Hole and the Kimberley Mine Museum

One of South Africa’s premier tourist attractions of historical and mining importance is the Big Hole and Kimberley Mine Museum.

Alfred Beit – Kimberley’s financial genius

The story of the amalgamation of the Kimberley diamond mines under De Beers Consolidated Mines in the late 1880s has largely been dominated by the captivating characters of Cecil Rhodes and Barney Barnato.

Richard Southey – bulwark against monopolisation

Histories relating the early decades of diamond mining in South Africa have tended to focus on the most powerful, wealthiest and influential characters that shaped the development of the industry.

De Beers Consolidated: company ‘worth as much as the balance of Africa’

While De Beers is, today, recognised as the world’s leading rough diamond company with unrivalled expertise in the exploration, mining and marketing of quality gems, the company, at its creation more than 120 years ago, was something quite...

Cecil John Rhodes and the monopolisation of diamonds

During the late 1870s and early 1880s the amalgamation of the numerous diamond mining operations was increasingly recognised as the only solution to ensure the longevity of the industry.

A melting pot of nationalities

Before the discovery of diamonds in 1869 there was little to attract foreign adventurers, prospectors and capitalists to the shores of South Africa, the predominant activity of economic enterprise being sheep farming.