Koffiefontein Mine, Koffiefontein, Letsemeng Local Municipality, Xhariep District Municipality, Free State, South Africai

Regional Level Types
Koffiefontein Mine	Mine
Koffiefontein	Town
Letsemeng Local Municipality	Municipality
Xhariep District Municipality	Municipality
Free State	Province
South Africa	Country

A diamond mine in a kimberlite pipe.

Diamonds were first discovered on the Koffiefontein farm in 1870. A few diggers investigated the property but it was soon abandoned due to the discovery of the richer pipes 110km to the North on the De Beers farm.

Mining re-started in 1878 in the form of 1,700 small claims that were later (1894) amalgamated into Koffiefontein Mine Limited, a company established by Alfred Moseley, a London diamond merchant.

De Beers acquired control of Koffiefontein Mine Limited in 1911. Mining operations were then continued until the advent of the Great Depression in 1932 when work was suspended.

Between 1950 and 1953, a prospecting shaft was sunk which was followed by limited production. The mine was reopened in 1970 and preparations for increased production were completed in August 1971. Immediately after completing the preparations, production from the open pit commenced and proceeded to a depth of 270 metres.

Underground development started in 1974 through a sampling programme. Underground production briefly took place in 1982 but ceased soon thereafter due to the 1981 slump in the diamond market, before resuming again in March 1987. In February 2006, De Beers ceased mining when the old order mining right for Koffiefontein expired and in July of that year Petra Diamonds commenced operating the mine under care and maintenance conditions, before completing the acquisition of the mine in July 2007.

From its first beginnings, Koffiefontein has been noted for the excellent quality of its diamonds, with Edwin Streeter commenting in 1898 that its diamonds were of the “first water” (meaning of exceptional clarity).

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Wikipedia:	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Koffiefontein_mine

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References