Premier Mine now called Cullinan Mine in South Africa celebrated its centenary in 1903. Over the past 100 years the mine has produced over 25% of all the world’s biggest diamonds. In 1905 a massive diamond weighing 3106 carats was discovered. It was called the Cullinan Diamond and cut into nine major stones, the two largest being mounted in the British Crown Jewels; these are on display at the Tower of London. May other famous stones have been found at the mine, these include the Jonker, Niachos, Taylor Burton, Premier Rose, Centenary, and the Golden Jubilee. The famous Blue Heart diamond now on show at the Smithsonian Institute was also found at the Premier Mine. Found in 1909 the diamond was a vivid blue color and weighed over 100 carats, and the stone cut from it was just over 30 carats. As recently as 2008 another blue diamond was found, this stone weighed 26 carats and the stone cut from it weighed only 7 carats. This stone was sold to a Hong Business man who gave it to his daughter and she called it the Star of Josephine. He paid $9.5 million for the diamond. What must a diamond the size of the Blue heart be worth if found now?
This book is about a diamond mine; from the first shovel of ground that found its way across the prospector’s table through to the formation of a massive hole in the earth’s crust, to the building of a shaft into the bowels of the earth.
It is also the story of the village that grew around the mine; first it was tents, then corrugated houses and finally the village as it is today.
It is also about the people of the village, despair as the mine closed in 1924, the grief as the Spanish Flu wreaked death on the residents of the village in 1919, and despair once more as the mine once more closed in 1932 due to the great depression, hope again as the mine re-opened and started working as an underground mine in 1945.
Even in the years it remained open, the mine was victim to the price of diamonds on the worlds market and the number of the fluctuating workforce pay testament to this.
The stories in this book are the stories of these people. It is supported by over 300 photographs of the mine, village and the workers and their families.
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