(former) Americans in Geneva: South Africa

On Monday, while the guys worked, Samantha and I went on a tour of the Cullinan Diamond mine. She found a tour company on Trip Advisor and we booked with them for several tours. Lemme tell ya, if you ever look for tips on hotels, restaurants or tour companies, use Trip Advisor. I have used them to plan for our honeymoon in Aruba and now with the fantastic experience in SA I am a firm believer in that service.

I must preface the rest with a warning: I am a science geek and I LOOOVED all the info we were given during the tour so I am going to share in detail. If you're bored, just go straight to the pictures. But I honestly think this stuff is super interesting to learn.

The history of Cullinan goes back to the late 1800s. The site it is on what used to be a cattle farm where an acient volcano used to be. For those who are interested, diamonds are formed from carbon (basically coal) in extreme heat, under extreme pressure, what's why they are typcially found in one time volcanic sites and when tectonic movement pushes the deposit up to the surface. The first diamonds were found here about 5 miles down river from the site and the man who discovered them immediately bought the farmland from current owners and started digging. By then there was nothing left of the volcano because all of it washed away.

The original dig was done from the surface. You can see a huge crated of where the original exploration was done for the past 100 years.

A few years and about 7.5 meters (23feet) into the dig a giagantic 3,000 carat diamond called the Cullinan I was discovered. By then Soith Africa was already under British rule (fyi the original settlers were Dutch) so the diamond was given to the King of England and up to this day a piece of it called the Lesser Star of Africa is embedded in the Royal Imperial Crown and another piece, the Great Star of Africa, in the Royal Sceptre (the long stick the king holds). Cool tid bit - we actually saw those during our recent trip to London and Tower of London exhibit of the Crown Jewels!!

See that grey, heart shaped spor on the side of the crater? That's where the gian Cullinan diamond was discovered.

Here is a replica of the giant Cullinan, and then a pic of what it is cut up into...

And here are pics of the crown jewels and the Queen in all her splendor.

What's really cool is that about 500 meters in (1,500ft) a huge solid slab of granite was discovered, 75 meters (220ft) thick. At that point the decision was made to go underground and start digging below the granite slab. They dig in 50 meter (150ft) increments and as kimberlite (the stone in which diamonds are embedded) is removed, the granite slab slowly shifts lower and lower. Our guide said that if you go under in the off hours and it's really quiet, you can actually hear the eerie crackling noise from the solid rock slooooowly shifting.
Overall though, the process is very safe and the only deadly accidents in recent history were caused by workers getting in the way of their own equipment, not by collapses in shafts.
This board shows what the most recent recordable accident was that they had. Hilarious!

This is what the shafts look like underground. This is a replica.

The mine belonged to DeBeers for years and was moderatly productive. A couple of years ago though, DeBeers decided not to invest any more money and sell the mine instead. A company called Petra Diamonds bought it. At that time the digging was being done at about 800 meters (2400ft) below which typically tends to be as low as diamond deposits can be found. DeBeers clearly thought that was it. Well, Petra did a survey and discovered a humongous deposit at about 1000 meters (3,000 ft) which will tripple the yields once they get to it! From 1 million carats to 3 million per year.

Now ladies, can you even imagine 3 million carats or diamonds?????!!!! Yes yes, look down at your ring hand... INSANE!!

Not only that, but about 2 years after the purchase, Petra was able to pay off the unimaginable price they paid for the site when they dug out just 2 massive diamonds... I bet DeBeers execs are kicking themselves now...
Here is their budget and yields this year...

Have you ever wondered what places in the world produce the most dianomds? Isn't it shocking that some of them are uber poor?

We toured the grounds and afterwards we were taken through the Mine gift store where you can buy their diamond products with a 15% discount. And to make things more shopper friendly, as soon as you enter the gift store you are given a glass of champagne and some tasty fruit... Nice trick!

And finally here are the most famous diamonds which came from Cullinan. The giant Cullinan which became the Star of Africa was by no means the only big rock there.