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Events/Closure · 1914

Kimberley Big Hole stops work

Closure, 4 or 14 August 1914, South Africa.

What happened

Work at the Kimberley mine stopped in August 1914 after 43 years. SAHO dates it to 4 August and Kimberley City Info to 14 August. The Big Hole is 214 m deep and the mine yielded 2,722 kg of diamonds from 22.5 million tons of earth. SAHO says the mine reached 1,083 m depth of workings.1,2,3

Why it matters

The Big Hole is the largest hand-dug excavation in the world and the centre of the Kimberley diamond story.1,2,3

Story cards

Around the same time

  1. De Beers founded

    De Beers founded.4

  2. Premier diamond mine: Wikidata inception date

    The mine near Cullinan that later yielded the Cullinan diamond.5

  3. Cullinan Diamond found

    Cullinan Diamond found.6

  4. Harry Oppenheimer born

    Harry Oppenheimer born (date from Wikidata).7

  5. Kimberley Big Hole stops work

    The Big Hole is the largest hand-dug excavation in the world and the centre of the Kimberley diamond story.1,2,3

  6. Anglo American founded

    Anglo American founded.8

  7. Williamson diamond mine: Wikidata inception date

    The Tanzanian diamond mine is dated to 1940 in Wikidata.9

Open the full timeline

Where next

Mines

Located inKimberley Big HoleSee the mine behind this story: Kimberley Big Hole.1

Events

An example ofKimberley diamond rushDigging began in 1871 and ended on 14 August 1914, with 2,722 kg of diamonds recovered.10

Places

Located inKimberleyThe Big Hole is the largest hand-dug excavation in the world.1

Sources

  1. Work is stopped at the Kimberley mine (4 August 1914) South African History Online
  2. The Big Hole Kimberley Kimberley City Info
  3. Kimberley (item Q125905), coordinate location P625 Wikidata
  4. Wikidata item Q471891 (De Beers founded)
  5. Wikidata item Q2576349 (Premier Mine)
  6. Wikidata item Q374209 (Cullinan Diamond found)
  7. Wikidata item Q1586536 (Harry Oppenheimer)
  8. Wikidata item Q541451 (Anglo American founded)
  9. Wikidata item Q3314859 (Williamson diamond mine)
  10. The Big Hole Kimberley Kimberley City Info (local information site)

From the Prospector Trails mining history dataset: each fact links to the source it was checked against. Figures are as the source gives them, in the money of their day. Not investment advice.

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Cover photos from Wikimedia Commons: The Big Hole by Rudolph Botha, CC BY-SA 3.0; Super Pit, Kalgoorlie by Kgbo, CC BY-SA 4.0; Underground mining equipment by Kaupo Kikkas, CC BY-SA 4.0. Pictures: Kimberley, South Africa: the Kimberley mine and town. Woodburytype, 1888, after a photograph by Robert Harris., Harris, Robert, active 1881-1888. (Public Domain Mark 1.0).