West Africa and European Colonies


The first diamond rushes were centred on the Orange and Vaal rivers; by 1869, 10,000 claims had been staked between Pniel and Klipdrift. But these were eclipsed by the discoveries at the Dorstfontein and Bultfontein mines in' 1870 and at the Kimberley and De Beers mines the following year. All mines were in areas under Orange Free State control, but Britain quickly extended the Cape Colony to snap them up.


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by Stephen Luscombe