Jagersfontein is a small town in the Free State province of

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

Origin

The original farm on which the town stands was once the property of a

Griqua Griqua may refer to: * Griqua people * Griqua language or Xiri language * Griquas (rugby) Griquas (known as the Windhoek Draught Griquas for sponsorship reasons since April 2022) are a South African rugby union team that participates in the an ...

Jacobus Jagers, hence the name Jagersfontein. He sold the farm to C.F. Visser in 1854.

Mining

Diamond rush

diamond rush A diamond rush is a period of feverish migration of workers to an area where diamonds were newly discovered. Major diamond rushes took place in the late 19th and early 20th centuries in South Africa and South-West Africa. Diamond rushes by chron ...

started in 1870 after farmer J.J. de Klerk found a 50 carat (10 g) diamond. This was about three years before diamonds were discovered 130 km away at Kimberley. Jagersfontein is known for many great finds, such as: *the 972 carat (194.4 g)

Excelsior Diamond The Excelsior Diamond is a gem-quality diamond, and was the largest known diamond in the world from the time of its discovery in 1893 until 1905, when the Cullinan Diamond was found. It was found on June 30, 1893 at the Jagersfontein Mine in Sou ...

of 1893 and *the 637 carat (127.4 g)

Reitz Diamond The Jubilee Diamond, originally known as the Reitz Diamond is a colourless, cushion-shaped diamond weighing 245.35 carats (49.07 grams), making it the sixth largest diamond in the world. It was originally named after Francis William Reitz, the ...

of 1895.

Jagersfontein Mine

Jagersfontein Mine Jagersfontein Mine was an open-pit mine in South Africa, located close to the town of Jagersfontein and about south-west of Bloemfontein.

together with the

Koffiefontein mine Koffiefontein Mine is a diamond mine situated in the Free State province, about 80 km from Kimberley, South Africa. It is one of the many Kimberley mines of which Kimberley mine, de Beers mine, Dutoitspan, Bultfontein and Wesselton are i ...

produced some of the clearest diamonds of all mines in the early 1900s, despite being overshadowed by the mines at Kimberley. Streeter called Jagersfontein's diamonds of the "

first water In the gemstone trade, first water means "highest quality". The clarity of diamonds is assessed by their translucence; the more like water, the higher the quality. The 1753 edition of ''Chambers's Encyclopaedia'' states "The first water in Diam ...

". The

Reitz diamond The Jubilee Diamond, originally known as the Reitz Diamond is a colourless, cushion-shaped diamond weighing 245.35 carats (49.07 grams), making it the sixth largest diamond in the world. It was originally named after Francis William Reitz, the ...

was first named after

Francis William Reitz Francis William Reitz, Jr. (Swellendam, 5 October 1844 – Cape Town, 27 March 1934) was a South African lawyer, politician, statesman, publicist, and poet who was a member of parliament of the Cape Colony, Chief Justice and fifth State Presi ...

, then state president of the

Orange Free State The Orange Free State ( nl, Oranje Vrijstaat; af, Oranje-Vrystaat;) was an independent Boer sovereign republic under British suzerainty in Southern Africa during the second half of the 19th century, which ceased to exist after it was defeat ...

in which Jagersfontein is located. The following year marked the Diamond Jubilee of

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 21 ...

(the 60th anniversary of her coronation) so the gem was renamed the

Jubilee Diamond The Jubilee Diamond, originally known as the Reitz Diamond is a colourless, cushion-shaped diamond weighing 245.35 carats (49.07 grams), making it the sixth largest diamond in the world. It was originally named after Francis William Reitz, the ...

to commemorate the occasion.

Main Pit Operations

The

Jagersfontein Mine Jagersfontein Mine was an open-pit mine in South Africa, located close to the town of Jagersfontein and about south-west of Bloemfontein.

is currently the deepest hand-excavated hole in the world. For the duration of the mine's operational history, it was run by De Beers up to 1972, when it was deproclaimed. De Beers did however retain prospecting rights on the property until 2002.

Stockpile Dumps Reprocessing

A court case, De Beers Consolidated Mines Ltd v Ataqua Mining (Pty) Ltd, in December 2007,related to historic stockpile dumps were found not subject to the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act. All standard National Environmental Management Act processes however still applied. Limited Reprocessing operations at the mine was eventually started in September 2010 by a company named Son Op before it changed its name to Jagersfontein Development. Reinet Investments of Luxembourg became involved around 2011, but eventually sold out to Stargems Group around early 2022.

Tailings dam collapse

At around 6am on Sunday the 11th September 2022, parts of a tailings dam collapsed on the outskirts of Jagersfontein.

Urban electrification

Jagersfontein was the second town in South Africa and the first town in the

to have electricity and piped water. In the early years, water used to be supplied with a unique system of coin-operated water pumps, using so-called Water Pennies,Some rare South African tokens from the Nomansland region
/ref> situated on street corners.

References

{{Authority control Populated places in the Kopanong Local Municipality Karoo Populated places established in 1852 1852 establishments in Africa