Sunday 31st July, 2005

De Beers to close three mines in S. Africa
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Big News Network.com Saturday 30th July, 2005 (UPI)

 

The mining conglomerate De Beers said it plans to close three diamond mines in Kimberley, South Africa, eliminating some 1,000 jobs.

The mines are exhausted, said Gary Ralfe, the company's outgoing managing director. It is no longer cost effective to keep them running.

After two Dutch brothers, Johannes and Diederik de Beer, discovered diamonds on their Kimberley farm in 1871, some 50,000 prospectors and their families descended on the area, creating the town of Kimberley, reported the Daily Telegraph.

Twenty-five years later, Kimberley had more millionaires than any other place on earth.

Town officials say despite the loss of the diamond jobs, the town will look to tourism and other industries.

Source