Premier Mine
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The Premier Mine is an underground diamond mine owned by Petra Diamonds. It is situated in the town of Cullinan, 40 kilometres east of Pretoria, Gauteng Province, South Africa. Established in 1902, it was renamed the Cullinan Diamond Mine in November 2003 in celebration of its centenary. The mine rose to prominence in 1905, when the Cullinan Diamond — at the time the largest gem diamond ever — was discovered here. It is also the only diamond mine in the world where blue diamonds have been discovered.
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[edit] History
The discovery of the mine occurred in 1890 by a Dutchman named Fabricius. He was actually prospecting for Henry Ward, who had an option to purchase the Wessels estate within a certain amount of time. However, Mr. Ward did not have any money to actually purchase the land and could have only done so if the land held diamonds, since it would be easy to find investors for it then. Ward became very fortunate when only a small part of the Wessels estate actually fell within the Cape Colony, and it was upon that portion of the land that the mine was discovered.
Scores of sanitary pits had been dug close to the mine, but never on the mine itself, and therefore the mine had never been discovered until Fabricius dug a random hole of 10 feet deep through limestone and the yellow ground was found.
Although Ward had all the rights as agreed with Wessels when buying the bond for the land, things were not that simple. Scores of pits a few feet in size were dug, and people refused to leave the land even though they did not have any rights. The fight became more complex because the mine was only a few hundred meters from the boundary between the Colony and the Free State. It was the Free State who had given Ward all rights to the mine since under their law, all minerals found belong to the owners of the land.
In the end Ward's claim was established beyond any doubt. Money problems kept pursuing him which let him first part with 50% of the land which after some transactions ended up in the hands of De Beers. He finally parted with the other 50% as well and sold it to De Beers but under the following conditions: Ward could take over the mine for a period of five years in which he was allowed 5,000,000 loads (equal to 4,000,000 tons of diamond bearing ground). This referred to the so-called yellow ground and the first 8 feet (2.4 m) of limestone were discounted for (since limestone would not hold any diamonds).
[edit] Cullinan Diamond Mine sold to Petra Diamonds
De Beers, the world's biggest diamond producer, said on Thursday 22nd of November 2007 it had sold its historic Cullinan mine to a consortium led by Petra Diamonds.
[edit] Notable Discoveries
The Cullinan Diamond is the largest rough gem-quality diamond ever found, at 3,106.75 carats (621.35 g).[1] It was found by Frederick Wells, surface manager of the Premier Diamond Mining Company in Cullinan, Gauteng, South Africa, on January 25, 1905. The stone was named after Sir Thomas Cullinan, the owner of the diamond mine.
In May 2008, a sparkling 101.27 carat diamond (about the size of a pingpong ball) mined from the Premier Mine sold for more than $6.2 million at Christie's in Hong Kong. Cut from a 460-carat rough, the shield-shaped gem boasts 92 brilliant facets. While internally flawless, the stone has a slight imperfection on the surface that is imperceptible to the human eye, the auction house said. The stone sold Wednesday to a private buyer for $6.21 million, it said. It is the largest colorless diamond to appear on the auction market in the last 18 years, Christie's said. Only three colorless diamonds of more than 100 carats have appeared at auction. All were sold in Geneva. Naming rights were granted to the new owner.
[edit] References
- Diamond Mines of South Africa, Premier Diamond mine overview + images by A.R.Williams former General Manager of De Beers (900 page overview).
- De Beers sells South African Cullinan Diamond Mine
