Big Hole Kimberlite Tube
The Big Hole Kimberlite Pipe is South Africa’s most famous diamond mine, located 30 km east of Pretoria, in the town of Kimberley. Officially, the mine is called the Premier Diamond Mine. Apart from its interesting appearance, it is also known for the gemstones that were mined there.
General Information
In January 1905, the largest known diamond was found here, named “Cullinan” (3106 carats) in honor of the mine’s then owner. The fist-sized stone yielded 9 diamonds of pure water – the largest adorns the crown of the British Empire. Studying the Cullinan, connoisseurs came to the conclusion that it was a fragment of a huge crystal, most of which remained in the parent rock. In 1985, a 755-carat diamond was extracted from the depths of the Kimberlite pipe – after cutting it became the world’s largest diamond and was presented to the King of Thailand on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of his coronation (hence the name “Golden Jubilee”). Already in 1986, the discovery of a 273-carat stone, named “Centenary” in honor of De Beers’ anniversary, followed. In 2007, the Big Hole Kimberlite pipe yielded a diamond the size of a golf ball (101 carats), and in 2009. – a 507-carat stone. And the megacrystal from which “Culinnan” broke off has not yet been found…
.The Kimberlite pipe is owned by Petra Diamonds and is open to tourists. Tours are conducted by Premier Diamond Tours (1 Bank St., Cullman Town, + 27-012-7340081; www.diamondtourscullinan.co.za).
.The guide scrolls through a 15-minute movie about the history of the mine, then shows you the equipment and the giant pit left over from open-pit mining (group tours Mon-Fri 10.30am and 2pm, Sat-Apr 10.30am and 12pm, 70p/person). Nowadays diamonds are dug in adits at a depth of 500 meters (descent 440 p./person). A tour from Johannesburg will cost about 800 p., including the excursion.
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