NEW ELDERADO

Hokitika Guardian, 13 December 1928, Page 7

NEW ELDERADO

THE DIAMOND FIELDS. CAPETOWN. Oct. 24. Two or three times a week an aeroplane elides to earth at the military aerodrome in Capetown. As soon as the engines are stilled the pilot takes a black box from the fuselage and hands it over to an armed guard. In that little box are diamonds worth nearly .€2130,000. They have been brought hy the military aeroplane 4rum the richest and most secret diamond field in the world. Between (111,000,000 and c 4,000,000 worth of diamonds are being found on this field each month and carefully hoarded away in secret vaults in Capetown. If this wealth of stones were suddenly flung on to the market in Hatton Carden and New York diamonds would become as cheap as artificial pearls. Yet the world outside the big diamond syndicates knows nothing of this greatest diamond discovery ol the age. it exists m a lonely sandy waste known as Alexander May, lying on the south-west coast ol Africa just below the mouth of the Orange river.

The district is called Namaqualand. an area of salt pans and sand dunes where droughts occur with terrible regularity and the few white farmers live a precarious existence. CROWN LAND. A few months ago a Dr Mnrensky, prospecting in this sandy wilderness, stumbled upon diamonds lying on the surface of the ground. Where the wind had swept away the sand, diamonds could lie seen. Mut the land was (Town land, and Dr M.arcnsky had to report his discovery. The South African Government quietly investigated the find, and soon realised that Alexander May was the richest diamond field in the world, 'll icy quickly pointed out that the area was Crown land, permitted Dr Mnrensky and the syndicate who weie financing him to take 100 claims, and thereupon prohibited any further prospecting in the district. And then, with a few white workers, they proceeded to unearth a wealth nml quantity of diamonds such as the world has never known before. ORDERS TO SHOOT. No journalist or outsider is permittoil to go near the Holds, no photographs are allowed to he taken, and ibe area is policed by picked men who have orders to shoot any intruders. It was in March Lliis year that the mystery diamond field was publicly revealed by an accident in the House ol Assembly in Capetown. The members were engaged in the dull business ol passing the annual vote for the Department of Mines and Industries when one member called attention to the fact that an additional amount ol 1-2,1500 was required under the subhead of “District -Mining Development.”

“Will you give us some information about that P ” General Smuts asked Un> .Minister of .Mines, Mr Beyers.

Mr Beyers was obviously disconcerted. lie beeapie no-committal. He talked vaguely of the need lor building a road or two in the neighbourhood of some diggings in which the Government were interested. General Smuts was not satisfied. He cross-examined the Minister ol Mines and eventually dragged some details ol this astonishing diamond adventure into the light of day.

The original discoverer of these diamond fields was, it was admitted, a Dr Marensky, a European geologist who has been prospecting in South Aifriea for a year or so. Diamonds aggregating 12,•">()() carats, worth about Clo O- . were found hy him in a few weeks. On the farm Kleinsee, which was worked hy a Kimberly sydnidcate diamonds worth more than .0200,000 were taken from one pot-hole within a month.

.CHOC) IN AN HOUR. The Minister - r ''W'r.q became nr usually eloquent. He described Alexander Bay as “ something unparalleled in the history of the country,” and lie added: “If we start with GO people the great thing we will have to guard against, perhaps, is finding too many diamonds. LI you walk about there on a windy day you can pick out stones on the surface. I picked up diamonds myself to the value of £6OO in less than an hour.” Following upon this statement the big international diamond syndicate whose wealth is sunk in Kimberley set to work to investigate the discovery. Their millions were in jeopardy. Sir David Harris, the diamond magnate, was able to state from his own knowledge that Alexander Bay was the richest diamond field ever dis covered in South Africa or any other country. Within a few days of this announcement came nows of a big find in the vicinity of Namaqualand where after a lew weeks of prospecting. a parcel of diamonds valued at C3.T1.00n had been discovered. The Government set to work on the new fields with a staff of 60 or 70 poor whites as workers. Not only was it discovered that the fields were richer than those at Kimberley but the quality and size of the stones were infinitely superior to those discovered in any other part of the IV irld. Moreover, it soon became apparent that the Pftate diggings were even richer than those claimed by Dr. Marensky and his syndicate*

ARMED AIR ESCORT. Owing to the inaccessible nature • the wilderness surrounding Alexander Hay military aeroplanes were called into use to transport the diamonds t Capetown. One day one of the aeroplanes had to descend owing to engine trouble on farm lands near the Cape. The farmer hurried out of his house to give assistance to the two airmen, but t his astonishment found a Service re volver levelled at him and a harsh voice ordering him to return to his house. Later the engine trouble was righted and the diamond-freighted aeroplane resumed its flight to Cape town.

Naturally, as soon as details of tin new Holds Ida Iced out prospectors am dippers ifrnm all over South Africa wanted to rush the Xamaqnaland dig gings, hut the Government refused t' allow this. Th(“y erected a giganti fence round the State dippings and : permanent police force was posted a< Dunvioi, which is three miles from tin dippinps. PIEKKKIXG HAM PANT. Clever gangs, however, are a I read at work pilfering the fields. Often they use natives, who can worm them selves into this area cleverly camouflaged against the sand. High-power-ed cars are kept hy the pangs at a safe distance, and these convey tinstones to the smugglers, who, in turn travel by the mail ships leaving Cap town for Europe. Several diamond thieves have already been caught. The police have also discovered the a large illicit traffic in diamonds liar been going on between the Namaqua land fields and the almost exhausted fields at Liohenburg, in the Transvaal. A pang trying to sell several of these exhausted claims salted the ground with diamonds stolen from the Namaqnaland fields by natives. At present only fF'> O'.'O worth * lNamaqimland diamonds is permittee' to he placed on the market each month. The Government is avoiding the temptation to overfeed the market, although the demand for diamonds has recently improved. Vet at the moment over C 5,000,000 worth of diamonds from Xamaqnaland. arc hidden away in the vaults at Capetown. Even the Marensky syndicate have their output controlled by the Government under a special arrangement. The members of tin’s syndicate are Sii Abe Hailey, Sir Ernest Oppenheimer, l)r Marensky, and Mr Decker, a financier from Johannesburg. “ We have got an arrangement with them.” explained the Minister of Mines, “under which every diamond they win must be deposited with the Government, and we. can keep every diamond, and they cannot even deduct a penny for working expenses. Me can keep those diamonds for the next five or ten years if we like. The diamonds are the property ol the syndicate. lint it is entirely at the discretion of the Government to deal with them as we think fit.” In the meantime, the aeroplanes with their precious cargoes are arriving' every week at Capetown.