Kimberley

Kimberley Tourism Information Bureau

Kimberley Business Directory

Kimberley is one of the most authentic historical destinations in South Africa. The Big Hole of Kimberley, also known as the “Kimberley Mine” or “Open Mine”, is the largest man-made hole in the world.

The story of the Kimberley Mine site started on or about 16 July 1871. Such was the rush to the Kimberley Mine that the crush of fortune seekers trying to get to the diggings became all but unmanageable. They came from across the various seas – America, England, Australia, Germany, Russia and the East, and also from the southern African hinterland.

The Kimberley Mine was almost the last of the 5 diamond mines found in Kimberley. The actual site was a small hill or “kopje” – later called Colesberg Kopje after the band of diggers that found the first diamonds there. The story goes as follows: The discovery of the mine is credited to Damon, a cook in service of Fleetwood Rawstone and his Red Cap Party from the Colesberg district. Damon had an affinity for alcohol, and after returning to the camp drunk, was ordered by the rest of the party to go and sober up and not return to the camp until he has found a few diamonds.

Up to that point the Red Cap Party was rather unlucky in their search for diamonds, arriving at the diamond fields rather later than everybody else. By this time, the Bultfontein and Du Toitspan Mines had very few good claims left. The Red Cap Party was at that stage digging for diamonds on what was to become the De Beers Mine, an area situated on a farm known as Vooruitzicht, owned by two Afrikaner brothers Diederick Arnoldus de Beer and Johannes Nicholaas de Beer.

Damon indeed returned to the camp a few days later, with a handful of diamonds that he found under a camel thorn tree on a hillock some 600 meters due west from the De Beers Mine. The Red Cap Party immediately staked a few claims on the “kopje” and started to dig, but again, unfortunately, their claims were on the actual perimeter of the volcanic diamond pipe!

The Red Cap Party never became rich, but they did become rather famous! They registered the first claims there, but it is certain that prospectors had been digging in the area before. A certain Mrs. Ortlepp claimed she had actually found the first diamond on the kopje and she may well have done, but historically it is to Damon that the honor goes.

What was once a kopje is today the largest man-made (please note: not the largest hole in itself, but the largest dug by hand) excavation in the world – dug by picks, shovels and sheer determination, measuring 215 meters deep with a surface area of some seventeen hectares and a perimeter if 1.6 km.

On 14 August 1914 all mining activities ceased at the Kimberley Mine, due to the outbreak of World War I. By that time it had yielded 2,722 kg of diamonds extracted from 22.5 million tons of excavated earth. After that, the mine just never reopened.

The other 4 mines in Kimberley, (Bultfontein, DuToitspan, Wesselton and De Beers) continued to operate. The De Beers Mine officially closed in 1991 and the hole is currently being filled up by the ore from reworked tailings in the vicinity. Bultfontein, DuToitspan and Wesselton has been sold by De Beers Consolidated Mines (DBCM) in 2007 to Petra Diamonds.

Kimberley’s past in fact stretches back thousands of years. The evidence lies literally in the dust below your feet as a large collection of stone age tools and other artifacts have been found in and around Kimberley. The region is particularly blessed with a wealth of significant rock art and archaeological sites which can now be visited by going on the “Kimberley Archaeology Route” starting in the McGregor Museum.

With its wealth of history and the rather eccentric persons that lived here, the city boasts a large number of haunted dwellings. Make sure to join a Ghost Tour, which will give you first hand insight into Kimberley’s rich history, but if you are lucky you may just find some strange sightings on the tour as well.

Kimberley Accommodation & Leisure Activities

Click on the establishment’s name for more details.

Kimberley Tourism Attractions:

Click on the attraction’s name for more details.

Kimberley Education:

Click on the institution’s name for more details.

Kimberley Business Directory:

Click on the business name for more details.