People/magnate, politician

Sir Joseph Benjamin Robinson

Sir Joseph Benjamin Robinson (born 1845), magnate, politician, from South Africa. Linked to diamonds, gold.

The lucky break

Bought Langlaagte and Randfontein estates on the Witwatersrand after the 1886 gold discovery, correctly judging that the main reef ran westwards.1

Legacy

Made a fortune buying diamonds from Africans on the Vaal and diamond-bearing land at Kimberley. He was mayor of Kimberley in 1880, sat in the Cape parliament, and stood aloof from Rand mining combinations.1

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Mines

OwnedWitwatersrand main reef mines, 1886 to 1887He bought Langlaagte and bet that the reef ran west.1Worked atKimberley Big HoleMayor of Kimberley in 1880.1

Sources

  1. Robinson, Sir Joseph Benjamin Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th edition, 1911 (public-domain text on Wikisource)

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: Super Pit, Kalgoorlie by Kgbo, CC BY-SA 4.0; Underground mining equipment by Kaupo Kikkas, CC BY-SA 4.0. Pictures: Pangkalpinang. Mijn 3b. Een reeks koelies bezig met het transporteeren van grond, Europeana (Public Domain Mark 1.0); Kimberley, South Africa: miners and washing gear at the Bultfontein diamond mine. Woodburytype, 1888, after a photograph by Robert Harris., Harris, Robert, active 1881-1888. (Public Domain Mark 1.0).