The Big Hole
http://artsofthelife.blogspot.com/2013/10/the-big-hole.html
The Big Hole
The Big Hole, is an open pit and underground mine in Kimberley, South Africa, and claimed to be the largest hole excavated by hand.
The first diamonds here were found on Colesberg Kopje. From 1871 to 1914 up to 50,000 miners dug the hole with picks and shovels, yielding 2,700 kilograms of diamonds. The Big Hole has a surface of 17 hectares and 460 metres wide. It was excavated to a depth of 240 metres, but then partially infilled with debris reducing its depth to about 215 metres . Since then it has accumulated about 40 metres of water, leaving 175 metres of the hole visible.
In 1872, one year after digging started, the population of the camp of diggers grew to around 50,000. As digging progressed, many men met their deaths in mining accidents. The unsanitary conditions, scarcity of water and fresh vegetables as well as the intense heat in the summer, also took their toll. in 1888 the leaders of the various mines decided to amalgamate the separate diggings into one big mine and one big company . This massive company further worked on the Big Hole until it came to the depth of 215 metres, with a surface area of about 17 hectares and perimeter of 1.6 kilometres. in 1914, when over 22 million tons of earth had been excavated, yielding 3,000 kilograms of diamonds, work on the mine ceased after it was considered the largest hand-dug excavation on earth.
Mining operations having been closed down in 1914, the open pit became an attraction for visitors to the city and by the 1960s a gathering together of relics of Kimberley's early days, including old buildings and sundry memorabilia, began to be organised into a formal museum and tourist attraction.
The first diamonds here were found on Colesberg Kopje. From 1871 to 1914 up to 50,000 miners dug the hole with picks and shovels, yielding 2,700 kilograms of diamonds. The Big Hole has a surface of 17 hectares and 460 metres wide. It was excavated to a depth of 240 metres, but then partially infilled with debris reducing its depth to about 215 metres . Since then it has accumulated about 40 metres of water, leaving 175 metres of the hole visible.
In 1872, one year after digging started, the population of the camp of diggers grew to around 50,000. As digging progressed, many men met their deaths in mining accidents. The unsanitary conditions, scarcity of water and fresh vegetables as well as the intense heat in the summer, also took their toll. in 1888 the leaders of the various mines decided to amalgamate the separate diggings into one big mine and one big company . This massive company further worked on the Big Hole until it came to the depth of 215 metres, with a surface area of about 17 hectares and perimeter of 1.6 kilometres. in 1914, when over 22 million tons of earth had been excavated, yielding 3,000 kilograms of diamonds, work on the mine ceased after it was considered the largest hand-dug excavation on earth.
