The Kimberley, or De Beers mines, 600 miles from Cape Town, are immensely valuable, and the great Premier mine in the district of Pre toria, Transvaal, about 300 miles northeast of the ICimberley group, first worked in 1903, has in late years rivaled them in productivity; the New Jagersfontein mine, some 100 miles east of Kimberley, in the Orange Free State, is also a large producer. The total " value of the diamonds mined in South Africa in 1913 was $55,000,000, and for the five-year period 1912 16, $160,000,000„in spite of the fact that in 1915, on account of the was, less than $2,000,000 worth of diamonds were extracted. In the year 1913 14, a single group of mines, those of the De Beers Company, comprising the Kimberley, De Beers, Wesselton and Dutoitspan mines, fur nished diamonds worth $28,000,000. In the 10 year period 1904-13 this company paid dividends amounting to $93,000,000 on its stock, and al though the Great War interrupted such pay ments for a time, they were resumed in 1916 when dividends of $6,000,000 were declared.
The records of the other great South African diamond mining company, the Premier, show that for the entire period of its operation from 1903 to 1917, diamonds weighing 19,199,747 carats were recovered, their value being $87,083,224. The stock dividends paid in this time totaled nearly $14,000,000, on a total capi talization of #80,000 ($400,000).
The diamond fields of the Union of South Africa have produced in the half-century (up to 30 June 1917) since diamonds were first found in this region, stones worth the following enormous SUMS : Transvaal S98,141,150 Caps 702,596,679 Orange Free State 70,641,828 S871,379,657 When we add to this the product of the German Southwest African mines, approxi mately $35,000,000, we have a grand total for all the African field of about $900,000,000. If we estimate the added value of the cut diamonds made from the rough crystals, and add a rea sonable profit for the diamond dealers, there can be little doubt that these African diamonds were eventually sold for as much as $2,000, 000,000.