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By 14 August 1914, when work on the mine ceased, over 22 million tons of rock had been excavated, yielding 3,000 kilograms (14,504,566 carats) of diamonds. It was considered the largest hand-dug excavation on earth.
The Big Hole Official Site is offering to all tourists the opportunity to join the informative Kimberley Big Hole tours and visit the old town, the Makala National Park, the Diggers’ Memorial and you can use the lift to have an underground experience that kids will find thrilling.
Big Hole, a large, defunct, open-pit diamond mine located in present-day Kimberley, South Africa. Considered to be the largest hand-excavated hole in the world and one of the deepest, it has a circumference of about 1 mile (1.6 km) and a diameter of roughly 1,500 feet (460 meters).
Kimberley, South Africa, is home to the world’s largest diamond mine, also known as the “Big Hole.” Dug by humans and so large it is visible from space, the pit has yielded some of the world’s largest diamonds and made the De Beers name famous worldwide.
Through period reenactments, you’ll learn how that discovery led to the diamond rush and the creation of The Big Hole and Kimberley itself. You’ll also get an introduction to the era’s most charismatic figures, including Barnato, Rhodes, and the leaders of the Black mining communities.
A visit to the Big Hole will transport you back in time to the very beginning of Kimberley and the discovery of Diamonds. The Big Hole is a massive man-made excavation, 214 meters deep with a surface area of 17 hectares and a perimeter of 1.6 km.
Big Hole. South Africa, Africa. Top choice in Northern Cape. Although the R50 million that turned the Big Hole into a world-class tourist destination came from De Beers, touring the world’s largest hand-dug hole gives an honest impression of the mining industry’s chequered past in Kimberley.
