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Welcome to DeBeers Bultfontein Mine! |
| Picture by Kristin Cook |
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The mechanized shovel that miners used to extract
kimberlite 845 meters below ground in the Bultfontein diamond mine in Kimberley. The
miner sits in the cage to the right and pulls the kimberlite material out of the blasted zone
with the cable-controlled shovel. Most of the mine tunnels were built in the gneiss
around the kimberlite pipe because the kimberlite is such weak rock. |
| Picture by Liz Johnson |
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| Picture by Laura Croal |
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The group watches a mining train full of the extracted
kimberlite blocks as it heads towards the rock crusher. |
| Picture by Liz Johnson |
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The kimberlite ore is moved from below the 'shovel' to the rock crusher in large
buckets on the back of this small tram. |
| Picture by Laura Croal |
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Antonin and his sample of Kimberlite. Do you think there's a diamond
in there??? |
| Picture by J. L. Kirschvink |
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The crushed ore is brought up about a hundred meters to the elevator shaft on this
large belt |
| Picture by Laura Croal |
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Laura at the place where the crushed rock gets loaded into the elevators to be carried
700 meters to the surface. |
| Picture by Laura Croal |
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The group upon their return form the mine. The large mine elevator shaft is visible
behind us. |
| Picture by J. L. Kirschvink |
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They seem to be all out of diamonds... |
| Picture by Gilead Wurman |
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The BIGHOLE. This is the top side of the Kimberlite Mine. The Big Hole is the
original Kimberley mine and sits in the middle of town (visible on the rim). The large
building on the right is the 15 story, DeBeers diamond sorting building. |
| Picture by Magali Billen |
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One of the many, many mine dumps. Currently, these mine dumps are being remined. Due
to new technology many diamonds formerly missed can be recovered. In fact, more diamonds
are being returned from remaining the mine dumps than mining the actual kimberlite pipe. |
| Picture by Laura Croal |
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| Picture by Kristin Cook |
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Our four Toyotas (three in typical muddy state, one newly
cleaned) plus a DeBeers vehicle on the far right. |
| Picture by Liz Johnson |
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A design made by San artists on an andesite surface polished by
glaciers. |
| Picture by Liz Johnson |
Day 14