The Diamond a Pamphlet Describing the Most Reliable Indications And
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MICROFILMED BY KEUFFEL Si ESSER COMPANY 15G1 N. Danville St., Arlington, Va. 22201 REEL NO. /// REDUCTION RATIO iX. MICROFILMED FOR t/^/Kev^r-fy ^f t*/ C*1s*h k«. CONTENTS STARTS ENDS u II r^ p; 4.W^*Vk J J>7 J+J Iff* I ! THE DIAMOND,^ A ramphlet describing the most reliable indications and the principal minerals associated with the DIAMOND IN SOUTH AFRICA, WITH HINTS TO PROSPECTORS IN SEARCH OF - THESE GEMS. [ILLUSTRATED WITH MAP AND SECTIONS. I V by DAVID DRAPER, F.G.S., and MINETT E. FRAMES. PRICE 5s. JoHANNESBURfl : MATTHEWS & WALKER, PRINTERS 1898. mm .;•-,.-:, /> J. : Mr. W&WEm DR4PBR, Fellow of the Geological Society of London. Member Fed. Inst.Mming Engineers"Forth of England. Member Geogr. Soc. of Holland. Hon. Secretary Geological Society of South Africa Curator Chamber of Mines Mineral Collection London Office : No. 448, MANSION HOUSE CHAMBERS, No. 11, QUEEN VICTORIA ST. South African Address : Box 460, JOHANNESBURG. Office: CHAMBER of MINES, AND Mr. 1€ Who has been for many years connected with Diamond and Gold Mining m the Free State and Transvaal, will inspect and report upon Mineral Properties in any portion of South Africa. DIAMONDS A SPECIALITY. Extracts from Local Press Reports " Mr. Draper identified the specimens fr m Riotf„nf^;„ i • iferous, in February, 1897."-*«»« IT^XZ^g, &£ {&?»* "The lessees of Rietfontein . were invited to not fo« n i to their a tonishn,, n , they wereins.rucMed ,™ by a S « tXt ""I search for the precious mineral, whose Kietfontem) to efforts tknnl . T i 6 gratifying!, successful, ano ' haie placed bey !„,? do^bt !,* ex^ence of Wi,Th "T a ,rue diamondiferous pipe in tL T^^l]^^*%;*£ The owners have acknowledged that Mr. Minett R Frames found the first diamond at the Rietfontein Mine, in the washing' operations. THE DIAMOND, indications and the , -U- . fV>n mo*tii,<Kt lenauureliable A Pamphlet describing the associated with the principal minerals AFRICA, DIAMOND IN SOUTH IN SEARCH OF WITH HINT8 TO PROSPECTORS THESE OEMS. MAP AND MOTION*. ILLW8TMATJSD WITH BY MINETT K. FRAMES. DAVID DRAPER, P.G.S., ani» PRICE 5S. Johannesburg<• |,, , » PWNTCT* MATTHKWft & WALKER, I Vesication. have d.-c prospectors whose efforts To the great amy of resources o development of the unneral s0 much towards the dedicated by the work is respectfully South Africa, this little a copy .ill each one who purchases anSI in the hope that and make his pile. discover a diamond mine 1 , INTRODUCTION. s the public we do not pose In placing this pamphlet before expem-cn phnaStopist. Whave had a ^r amount of M L>ig n > both on the River and at the L>ry e diamond rnininc know what impression that those who do not SSSe ot tfte ignorant of the , ar^r a rough diamond is like, or are found, and the mine&l in which these gems are ™»£F£ have hitherto led to the discovery which ^J^PgSffitlus nttte themselves of the hints contained in will gladly avail ofjhe&a- wok When we were prospecting in tje eariydays a great deal more mnnfl industrv we would have paid the same amount of iCn the mce asked for a work containing diamond miners may also pick InSr We believe that old men perusal of these pages. VeryJew up a few hints from a have mines in South Africa as we have visited all the diamond ol each one. done and noted the peculiarities . - what a diamond is line, TIipii ftffain evervbodv does nol know will ^/for it,' though old hands »***£. „or tow t ^taken '• no man can be m Jj§ "uperior knowledge and tell us that But this is r>> "°. uu.* be has once handled a few diamonds. famous Monastery /.neon will tell. the cSe as the history of the experienced diamond men were n Snlnce ^J«V»Jvaiue money for a comparativelj some even offered large sums ol proceed on the lines we ^ W^have advised prospectors to Mine) on the day thej were the New Rush (now Kimberley worked for several years thereon given out, and ana was con Mr Frames mew up on the Diamond I ieltts, were led to the wentmcOTion tunitv of making the fact public, occurrence of the various Kg diamond bearing mineral, by the HM minerals which accompany the diamond in every mine in South Africa and so once more " " ; the carbon," garnet," and " neeu stone have done good service in the development of the mineral resources of this country. We were told when we first made this discovery pnblic that blue ground had never been found on the surface, and that Ivnnberley and the other diamond mines were covered with lime and Rietfontein, Pretoria, was not, consequently it could nut possibly be a diamond mine. But we pinned our faith on the diamond s inseparable companions, and they have not failed u.s 1 he now recognised importance of Rietfontein is therefore P WG WerC entitIe<l Sect* t0 Sive an °Pinion " 2K The fact that diamonds existed in the Transvaal has been public property for a number of years, but hitherto the home of these valuable gems was a mystery which we have succeeded in That the Rietfontein Mine, Pretoria, should have been nros- pected. for coal firstly, and later on for mercury, is aifothe proof of the ignorance of a great number of men who pose as author? ties upon the indications of the diamond. It will not be believed by old diggers that shafts were actually sunk to 35 fee? in blue ground," without the prospectors discovering he value of the spot they were working, yet such was the case. jr ^^r^svris^s^: =5: In TOidusion, we woold adTiae those who wish to beenino thoroughly aeyamted with the diamond bearing mleS, of oomph* ooileotion e, ^JTft*^eStbT'K David Draper. Minett R Framed. t H CONTENTS. Page, Introduction. (Jolo,,bedPt' atkNo - 'chapter I. Composition, Form, is \ DlAMOKD.—Colour and What chare*- Hardness, Lustre. Summary of its principal 10 teristics li or Carbonado ... Boart, Carbon 12 • identify a Diamond ... • • How to 13 Diamond ... whicb may be mistaken for a Minerals 14 CHAPTER II. the which are found in company with Minerals 14 in South Africa ... Diamond 14 Carbon ... The Garnet, 15 Mica, Vaalite, &c. ... Olivine, 16 CHAPTER III. 16 The Diamond Deposits and Rocks -• 16 1- -The River Gravels ... Section known The volcanic pipes or chimneys Section 2— 17 the dry diggings as 18 and Blue ground... Yellow ground 19 ... ••• Hard Bank ... 20 CHAPTER IV. ... - I^mohd Mines Geological position of the various -Beers I late, 20 Rietfontein, Kimberley and De Kaalvalley (Robinson's), Dnekoppies, Jagorsfontein, 21 Carnvel Monastery, ;; 22 CHAPTER V. .- .» different Diamond Mines Bribe description of the ORDER OF THEIR DISCOVERY.— IN THE 22 ••• ... - . Bultfontein 23 ... : Jagersfoutem Du Toit's Pan 25 Kimberley Old De Beers— 26 Koffyfontein—The Monastery ... ... 28 The Robin8on.Rietfontem p^ 30 Diamonds and the Plant required, How to prospect for 30 Frames ... ... byy M. E. 35 CHAPTER VII. 35 for Diamonds Where to search 37 Conclusion ... 37 Prospe< tors A few hints to 38 Mining in forthe regulation of Diamond P^LLw precious stones 43 Africa, Weights used for South 40 Hardness and specific gravity tables • » mm Plate 1 1-6R&N STONE -GARNET - ZONING CARBON- DIAMOND — Fig. 1. Diamond and Characteristic Piece of Hard Blue Ground, with Minerals in Natural Colours. from South African Diamond Octohedron,^ copied " Dana's Mineralogy." I >*•**»— THE DIAMOND. Chapter I. WHAT IS A DIAMOND ?- There are three varieties of the Diamond- The Gem ok Precious Stone. BOAET. Carbon or Carbonado. THE GEM OR PRECIOUS DIAMOND. Colour and CoMPOsrriOK.-The diamond is a precious stone, generally white or colourless, though found of tan s ranging between Sat white and black, but of which pa or straw le yeUow colour 18 the most frequent (after white and colourS ! Red, orange, and blue diamonds' are rare, but *moky or g freqUent,y fonnd b,ue most > » uncommon' ?tihe ,nlcolourlessZ stones are almost, invisible in clear If a water diamond is colourless and free from flaws and spots it ia called a « first " water stone and is of the highest value in Ppro portion to its weight and shape. The diamond is composed of pure carbon and can be com pletely burned to carbon dioxide (carbonic acid gasO between poles of a the battery, leaving no ashy residue behind S m imhle but whe >' < » exposed to great heat in an phere»A a l atmos- free from oxygen, it swells up into a black mass like graphite or coke. It is also unaffected by acids Its specific gravity is 3.5 (3* times heavier than water). "**—Diamonda are found • U«A in a crystalline form octa- hedrons or eight-sided stones are the most numerous A perfect octohedron has eight flat sides or « facets," each of wild Eld | ***** these fawts somewhat!^SLSEa^x ™ I 6 ,U Sl' aPe a" d ^^ thG a"gleS and Sides Stlyturtd ' ™ I Some diamonds have their facets marked with small tri- I angular indentations as shown in figure 1, plate 1, which repre- I sents the form and mode of crystalization of a perfect octohedron. The drawing I is copied from Dana's Mineralogy I 10 TilE DIAMOND. are all modifica- Other forms of crystalization occur, but they are never found of the same tions of the octohedron. Diamonds sides and six triangles shape as quartz crystals, which have six both ends. converging to a point, either at one or minerals wil Hardness, -Though several of the harder Glaziers diamonds scratch glass, only the diamond will cut it.