Origin of name
The Kimberley Octahedral diamond is the largest naturally
formed octahedral diamond crystal discovered in the world, in the Dutoitspan
Mine, one of the diamond mines situated in the Kimberley region of South
Africa. The name of the diamond reflects its place of origin, Kimberley, the
internationally renowned diamond producing region of the world, situated in
South Africa, where diamonds were first discovered in 1871. The Kimberley
octahedral diamond is also referred to as the "616 Diamond", which is a
reference to its carat weight.
Characteristics of the
diamond
The diamond has been preserved in its natural octahedral
state, and is a yellow diamond with a weight of 616 carats. As the diamond
remains uncut the usual color and clarity grades and type of cut applicable
to cut and polished diamonds do not apply for this diamond. The diamond
still being in its natural state can only be described in terms of its shape
(octahedral), color (yellow) and weight (616 carats).
The Kimberley Octahedral diamond is the largest naturally
formed octahedral diamond crystal in the world, and it was the seventh
largest gem-quality rough diamond ever discovered in the world in 1964.
Today it is the 14th largest gem-quality rough diamond ever discovered in
the world. See table below.
List of largest
gem-quality rough diamonds discovered in the world
|
Name |
Country of discovery |
Year of discovery |
Carat Weight |
Position |
|
Cullinan |
South Africa |
1905 |
3,106 |
1 |
|
Excelsior |
South Africa |
1893 |
995 |
2 |
|
Star of Sierra Leone |
Sierra Leone |
1972 |
969.80 |
3 |
|
Incomparable |
Zaire |
1984 |
890 |
4 |
|
Great Mogul |
India |
1650 |
787 |
5 |
|
Millennium Star |
Zaire |
1990 |
777 |
6 |
|
Woyie River |
Sierra Leone |
1945 |
770 |
7 |
|
Golden Jubilee |
South Africa |
1985 |
755 |
8 |
|
President Vargas |
Brazil |
1938 |
726.60 |
9 |
|
Jonker |
South Africa |
1934 |
726 |
10 |
|
Jubilee-Reitz |
South Africa |
1895 |
650.80 |
11 |
|
Unnamed |
South Africa |
1984 |
620.14 |
12 |
|
Sefadu |
Sierra Leone |
1970 |
620 |
13 |
|
Kimberley Octahedron |
South Africa |
1964 |
616 |
14 |
|
Lesotho Promise |
Lesotho |
2006 |
603 |
15 |
|
Centenary |
South Africa |
1986 |
599 |
16 |
|
De Grisogono |
Central Africa |
|
587 |
17 |
|
Jacob-Victoria |
South Africa |
1884 |
457.50 |
18 |
|
Zale light of peace |
Sierra Leone |
1969 |
435 |
19 |
|
De Beers |
South Africa |
1888 |
428.50 |
20 |
|
Niarchos |
South Africa |
1954 |
426.50 |
21 |
The diamond being yellow is a Type I diamond, in which
the yellow color is caused by the presence of trace quantities of nitrogen
impurities in the crystal structure of the diamond. Nitrogen atoms absorb
visible light in the blue region of the spectrum causing its complementary
color yellow to appear. However it is not possible to characterize the
diamond as Type Ia or Type Ib, as the exact color grading of the diamond is
not known, since it still remains un-cut. The intense shades of yellow such
as fancy intense and fancy vivid come under Type Ib, but these diamonds are
very scarce constituting only about 0.1 % of all naturally occurring
diamonds. The canary yellow diamonds also belong to this rare group. The
remaining shades of yellow such as fancy yellow, fancy light yellow, light
yellow, very light yellow, and faint yellow all belong to Type Ia, which
constitute almost 98 % of all naturally occurring diamonds.
The intense yellow colors of Type Ib diamonds are caused
by single nitrogen atoms scattered in the crystal structure of the diamond.
The medium and lighter shades of yellow of Type Ia diamonds are caused by
groups of odd numbers of nitrogen atoms in the crystal, such a 3-atoms,
known as N-3 centers.
History
The diamond was discovered in 1964 in the Dutoitspan
Mine, in the Kimberley region of South Africa, and was a large naturally
formed yellow octahedral crystal. The rough diamond was so enormous, and
turned out to be the largest octahedral diamond crystal ever discovered. The
owners of the diamond De Beers Consolidated Mines Ltd., who were aware of
the rarity of this exceptional find decided to preserve it for the sake of
posterity, as the chances of finding a similar diamond of such
enormous size was extremely remote. The diamond is today exhibited in the
"Diamond Vault" of the visitors center of the "Kimberley Big Hole" together
with the "Eureka Diamond" the first diamond to be discovered in South Africa
on the banks of the orange river in 1867.
History of the Kimberley
Big Hole
After the discovery of diamonds on the farm of
Nicholas and Diederick De Beer between 1867 and 1871, two diamond mines were
dug on the farm, the Kimberley and the De Beers diamond mines in 1871, which
eventually became the most productive diamond mines in the world. The site
of the Kimberley Mine was originally a flat topped hill. When the word got
around that diamonds were discovered on the site thousands of prospectors
armed with the simplest of tools like picks and shovels descended on the
site and began digging. The diamond bearing soil that was brought up was
sorted for diamonds using traditional techniques. Eventually the site became
one of the largest hand-dug excavation sites in the world.
Introduction of new
mining and sorting techniques
More organized mining activities at the site were
introduced after operations at the mine were taken over by the mining
companies. New mechanical digging and sorting methods were developed and
introduced at the mines. The Kimberley mines was the pioneer that developed
the new techniques of mining and extracting diamonds. Although the modern
methods of mining and extracting diamonds have undergone tremendous
improvements, they still retain the same basic methods that were developed
at Kimberley. The Kimberley diamond mines also pioneered the techniques of
deep underground mining.
Discovery of Kimberlites
Geologists who studied the deep underground mine at
Kimberley discovered that deposits of diamond in the deep mine were actually
ancient volcanic pipes, which had brought diamonds to the surface from below
the earth's crust where they were produced. They called these pipes
Kimberlites. Thus for the first time geologists came to know that primary
deposits of diamonds were ancient volcanic pipes. Before this discovery it
was assumed that diamonds were found only in the rivers and river basins, as
it was in India and Brazil. How the diamonds came to be deposited in the
river basins was a mystery. But, now we know that it was the erosion of the
ancient Kimberlite pipes in the hilly areas surrounding the rivers that
brought the diamonds down to the river basins where they were deposited as
alluvial deposits.
Total production at the
Kimberley Mines
The Kimberley mine which started production in 1871 ended
operations in 1914. During the 43-year period of its operation it has been
estimated that the mine produced 22.5 million tons of diamond-bearing earth,
that yielded 2,722 kilograms of diamonds equivalent to 13,610,000 carats.
Conversion of the
abandoned Kimberley Mines into a tourist attraction
Today the abandoned Kimberley Mine has been converted
into a tourist attraction, known as the Big Hole, Kimberley. The various
sections of this center include the viewing ramp, the exhibition center, the
pulsator shed, underground mine shaft, the cinema and the diamond vault.
The viewing ramp is an elevated platform 30 feet by 30
feet, from where visitors have an opportunity of observing the big hole
directly from above and appreciate its remarkable scale and grandeur. This
is the highlight of their visit to the Big Hole and provides them with a
unique and unforgettable experience.
The exhibition center contains photographs, materials
from archives, and artifacts, that tell the story of diamonds from the past
to the present. The exhibits in the center reveal the myths and legends that
were associated with diamonds, believed in ancient times to have mysterious
powers. It also shows the colonial history of South Africa and other
countries of southern Africa, and the impact of the discovery of diamonds on
these nations. The exhibits cover all aspects of the diamond industry, such
as the historical, chemical, geological and engineering aspects, and
are very informative and educative.
The pulsator shed houses equipment used in the past for
the processing of diamond ores, such as jigging machines and grease tables,
that separated the diamonds from the ore. Visitors can also have an
interactive experience of sorting and selecting diamonds in the pulsator
shed.
Visitors are also given the privilege of having some
first hand underground mining experience and appreciating the perilous 19th
century mining conditions, by entering a recreated mine shaft of that
period.
Visitors are also given the opportunity of viewing a
short film depicting the story of diamonds in Kimberley, in an
air-conditioned, state-of-the-art, 65-seat theatre.
The diamond vault is a specially constructed room in the
Big Hole facility where a collection of real diamonds of all varieties such
as colorless diamonds, yellow diamonds, brown diamonds, and other fancy
colored diamonds are exhibited. Some of the famous gems on display are the
616 Kimberley Octahedral Diamond, the largest naturally formed octahedral
diamond in the world and the 10.73-carat, cushion-cut, brownish-yellow
brilliant known as the Eureka, the first diamond to be discovered in South
Africa on the banks of the Orange river in 1867.
The big hole facility also offers shopping facilities for
tourists which include a series of shops selling gifts, leather work,
curios, diamonds, gem and jewelry and also coffee shops.
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