This will form the basis for a response to the area’s challenges… such as roads, and access to water. Thus in responding to this particular matter of the stones, we also have to provide a comprehensive response to the socio-economic challenges as raised by the community members during our visit to the site and as communicated by community representatives during a meeting held earlier.”Ī report will be presented to KZN Premier Sihle Zikalala and the entire provincial executive council. The KZN government said the activity seen this past week has “highlighted the socio-economic challenges confronting people in the area. “The value, if any, of the quartz crystals is yet be established but it must be mentioned that the value of quartz crystals is very low compared to that of diamonds.” A man shows an unidentified stone as fortune seekers flock to the village after pictures and videos were shared on social media showing people celebrating after finding what they believe to be diamonds, in the village of KwaHlathi outside Ladysmith, in KwaZulu-Natal province, South Africa, June 14, 2021. In fact, what has been discovered are quartz crystals that are common across the Karoo Supergroup with an extensional facture planes within and along the contact of Karoo dolerite sill. “The tests conducted conclusively revealed that the stones discovered in the area are not diamonds as some had hoped. This was further confirmed by visual, geological and chemical analyses that were conducted. Today they released the findings of their preliminary report, which shows that “the site of the informal mining practises is geographically located on the edge of a Karoo dolerite sill which is not in a zone where diamond occurrences are present. The team of geoscientists and mining experts inspected the site on 15 June 2021 and collected samples of the stones for testing and analysis. However, the situation has uncovered the plight of the people in the area, and a report is due which will address the issues and possible solutions.
Instead of receiving good news, the excited diamond diggers were told that their large numbers had posed a “huge risk in terms of Covid-19 regulations”, had led to a “degradation of the environment” and had been illegal… not to mention futile, since the stones were not the precious diamonds they so hoped for. The delegation from the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy and the KZN (KwaZulu-Natal) Government announced the outcome on Sunday afternoon. REUTERS/Siphiwe Sibeko A woman arrives carrying a pickaxe on her head, June 14, 2021. A man uses a pickaxe to dig as fortune seekers flocked to the village after pictures and videos were shared on social media showing people celebrating after finding what they believed to be diamonds, in the village of KwaHlathi outside Ladysmith, in KwaZulu-Natal province, South Africa, June 14, 2021. The team was deployed to investigate and identify the stones in KwaHlathi village following a ‘diamond rush’ last week which saw over 1,000 people from around the country flock to the area – with spades and axes – desperate to dig themselves out of financial hardship.
An investigative team has revealed that sadly, the ‘diamonds’ that fortune seekers thought they had found in a village near Ladysmith, South Africa, were nothing more than quartz crystals.
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