![]() ![]() When Bernato sold out, he became the major shareholder of the world's largest diamond company and he was only 35 years old. He was a genius in negotiations and getting people to work for him. Bernato will always be remembered as one of the most flamboyant and audacious characters of diamond era. ![]() However, he was shrewd and made his fortune within 5 years. He left his job as barman in the music halls of London with his brother to become a diamond buyer in Kimberley. When Barney Bernato sold out to Cecil Rhodes in 1888 for 5,4 million Pounds, he became a multi-millionaire. In 1880 he formed the De Beers Mining Company. He started his career by making and selling ice. He left the UK for South Africa to recover from tuberculosis and rushed to the diamond fields when the news of the first discoveries broke. The Diamond Giants Cecil John Rhodes was even more remarkable. When mining stopped it was about 800 meters deep and more than 14 million carats of diamonds have been extracted. Up to 30 000 men were working day and night to clear the rubble and rock.Īt the turn of the century the Hole was about 160 meters deep with an outside diameter of about 1200-meter. The deeper the workings the more complicated life became for the diggers. The Big Hole When the diggers started to work the Kimberley diamond pipe, nobody knew how deep it would go. Horsemen could order a drink without even dismounting. The Halfway and West End Hotels offer a ride-in bar service. It was the first city in Africa to have electrical streetlights. ![]() Races, lotteries, ballrooms, boxing booths, pubs, merry-go-rounds and dance halls flourished. From this two famous "diamond giants", Cecil John Rhodes and Barney Bernato emerged. Kimberley became the gathering place for the "new aristocracy" mainly swindlers, rogues, adventurers, Madames and other characters. According to stories successful diggers lit their cigars with bank notes whilst their women bath in champagne. There was no end to the diamonds and people became unbelievably rich. Nobody could possibly have dreamed that the koppie would become the vigorous pit of the Kimberley Mine. Around the verges of The Big Hole" buildings sprang up and kept on expanding. However, this rush never came to an end and the hole grew bigger and bigger. The frantic rush caused the small hill (koppie) to disappear and to be replaced by a hole. Diggers pulled the house down, pegged out the area around the house and eventually left the area with only a large hole in the ground.Ībout 2 years after the first, another rush started when diamonds were discovered on a small hillock close to the first discovery. The first rush (1869) started when diamonds were discovered in the walls of a farmhouse. The fascinating open-air Kimberley Mine Museum situated here is well worth a visit.ĭiamond rushes in South Africa were often unpredictable devastating on the environment and often disappeared as quickly as a Highveld storm. The hole is now known as the Kimberley Big Hole - over 14.5 million carats of diamonds were extracted from it. Fortune seekers discovered a rich, rare kimberlite pipe which led to the growth of a tin-town around the ever-widening and deepening hole, which formed as they followed the trail of diamonds. Kimberley In its heyday, Kimberley was a lively, thriving mining town. Photo taken by myself from the new viewpoint structure on 4th October 2009 ![]()
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