Diamond Mining Factory

Object Details

Place: Africa; DeBeers Diamond Mines; South Africa; Kimberley (South Africa)

See more items in: Constance Stuart Larrabee Collection; Constance Stuart Larrabee Collection / Series 1: Photographs / Photographs / Kimberley Diamond Mines, Kimberley, South Africa

Sponsor: The cataloging of the Constance Stuart Larrabee Collection was supported by a grant from The Smithsonian Women's Committee.

Extent: 1 Negatives (photographic) ((silver gelatin)., b&w, 6 x 6 cm.); 1 Photographic print ((contact print)., b&w, 6 x 6 cm.); 1 Photographic print ((dupe print)., b&w, 8 x 10 in.)

Archival Repository: Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives, National Museum of African Art

Collection Citation: Constance Stuart Larrabee Collection, EEPA 1998-006, Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives, National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution.

Collection Rights: Permission to reproduce images from the Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives must be obtained in advance. The collection is subject to all copyright laws.

Scope and Contents: Diamond Mining Factory, 1948. Photographic image a hauling mechanism. At one end is a metal container that has been hauled from underground. In the background there is a building with tunnel-like bridges that extend from different ends of the building. At the base of the building are several miners with trams used to haul the hard ground in which diamonds are found. The following is paraphrased caption found in Stuart's notes relating to this image: "The blue ground in which the diamonds are found, is mined on several levels underground. Trucks are filled with it [blue ground] and hauled along a tunnel by rope haulage to the veritcal shaft from where it is loaded into skips which hoist it to the surface. Thousands of tons of of blue ground are being conveyed to the sorting belts and crushers. The tremendous amount of work in connection with the recovery of diamonds is well illustrated by the fact that it takes 100,000 tons of blue ground to yield 11 1/2 lbs. of diamonds. Diamonds are only found in 2% of the round treated." Original caption by Constance Stuart Larrabee. Photograph by Constance Stuart Larrabee, 1948.; There are no prints of this negative in the Constance Stuart Larrabee Collection. EEPA produced an 8x10 study print for reference purposes.

Collection Restrictions: Use of original records requires an appointment. Contact Archives staff for more details.