Drag to turn the globe

Mines/South Africa

Kimberley Big Hole

Kimberley Big Hole, South Africa. Heritage site, open pit, mining diamonds.

Why Kimberley Big Hole is famous

Dug largely by hand with about 50,000 miners between 1871 and 1914. De Beers formed in 1888 and an underground mine reached 1,097 m before closing in 2005. The depth was originally 240 m.1,2,3

Story cards

Timeline

  1. 1871 to 1914Kimberley diamond rush8
  2. 1888De Beers Consolidated Mines founded9
  3. 1905Cullinan diamond found10
  4. 4 or 14 August 1914Kimberley Big Hole stops work4

What kind of deposit

Kimberlite and lamproite pipe

Kimberley Big Hole today

Mining in South Africa

Where next

People

Owned byCecil RhodesHe built De Beers on the old claims under the Big Hole.11Owned byBarney BarnatoFrom penniless arrival to millionaire in ten years in Kimberley.12Worked hereJulius WernherHe reached Kimberley in 1871 as an agent and became partner by 1873.13Worked hereErnest OppenheimerHe arrived in Kimberley at 22 and ended up running De Beers.14Worked hereHarry OppenheimerBorn by the Big Hole, he ended as the last of the Randlords.15Worked hereSir Joseph Benjamin RobinsonMayor of Kimberley in 1880.16Worked hereAlfred BeitA Hamburg clerk sent to Kimberley ended up financing its takeover.17

Mines

Same kind of depositArgyle diamond mineThe Big Hole was hand-dug from 1871. Argyle's AK1 pipe was found in 1979.1ExamplesJagersfontein diamond mineThe Free State town dates from 1852. Kimberley's Big Hole was dug from 1871.18

Events

Record broken byCullinan diamond foundA 3,106 carat stone found in 1905 is the largest gem diamond ever found.10HereKimberley Big Hole stops workSee the mine behind this story: Kimberley Big Hole.4

Deposit types

An example ofKimberlite and lamproite pipeKimberley Big Hole belongs to the kimberlite and lamproite pipe family of deposits.19

Sources

  1. Kimberley Big Hole Showcaves
  2. Kimberley Big Hole Israel Diamond Institute
  3. Wikidata entity Q19040
  4. Work is stopped at the Kimberley mine (4 August 1914) South African History Online
  5. The Big Hole Kimberley Kimberley City Info
  6. Wikidata item Q19040 (Big Hole at Kimberley: inception)
  7. Wikidata item Q125905 (Kimberley)
  8. The Big Hole Kimberley Kimberley City Info (local information site)
  9. De Beers Consolidated Mines Ltd. is founded (13 March 1888) South African History Online
  10. Cullinan I and II diamonds, Summer 2006 Gems and Gemology (GIA)
  11. Cecil John Rhodes South African History Online
  12. Barney Barnato South African History Online
  13. Dictionary of National Biography, 1927 supplement: Wernher, Julius Charles Wikisource (public domain source text)
  14. Sir Ernest Oppenheimer South African History Online
  15. Harry Oppenheimer obituary The Guardian (David Pallister, 21 Aug 2000)
  16. Robinson, Sir Joseph Benjamin Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th edition, 1911 (public-domain text on Wikisource)
  17. Beit, Alfred Dictionary of National Biography, 1912 supplement (public-domain text on Wikisource), article by C. W. Boyd
  18. Wikidata item Q6122519 (Jagersfontein Mine) Wikidata (CC0)
  19. Mineral Deposit Models (Bulletin 1693, Cox and Singer, eds., 1986) US Geological Survey

Pictures on this page: Barney Barnato00.jpg, Unknown author (Public domain); Julius Wernher02.jpg, Hubert von Herkomer (German-born British artist (1849-1914)) (Public domain); Alfred Beit00.jpg, Giovanni Boldini (Public domain).

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.

Keep exploring

Stories with these minerals

The Big Hole at Kimberley, South Africa, seen from above, with water at the bottomMining historyThe Big Hole, KimberleyDiamonds · South AfricaThe Super Pit gold mine at Kalgoorlie, Western Australia, at sunsetMining historyGold rushes, then and nowGold and lithium · WorldwideAn underground loader carrying a full bucket of rock through a dark mine roomEquipmentUnderground mining equipmentUnderground · FleetHistory of miningDiamonds and deep gold: Kimberley and the Rand1867-1946

All mining storiesThe world runs on rockAll mineralsMining by country

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).