[imagesource: Reuters/Siphiwe Sibeko]

The small KwaZulu-Natal village of KwaHlathi village is at the centre of a so-called ‘diamond rush’.

News spread across the province, and the country, this past weekend, with “more than 1 000 fortune seekers” flocking to the area, outside of Ladysmith.

The rush is said to have begun with a local man who, when digging for traditional medicine purposes on Friday, discovered the rocks.

We covered some of the viral footage yesterday, but this is worth sharing again, to give you an idea of how many people are on the scene:

#DiamondRush in #Ladysmith, KwaHlathi pic.twitter.com/ZotkILw4z1

— D i m b a n e (@TheBlackspice) June 13, 2021

As things stand, there is yet to be confirmation (or heartbreak) regarding the true nature of the precious stones being uncovered, but international media outlets have picked up on the story.

This from Australia’s ABC News:

The crowd travelled from across South Africa to join villagers who have been digging since Saturday, after a herd man who dug up the first stone on an open field — which some believe to be quartz crystals — put out the word…

The discovery was a “life changer”, said one digger, Mendo Sabelo, as he held a handful of tiny stones…

Unemployed Skhumbuzo Mbhele agreed, adding: “I hadn’t seen or touched a diamond in my life”.

“It’s my first time touching it here, I hope this will make a difference at home because we are really struggling, so I hope things will be better,” he said.

That is the prevailing sentiment among many of the people in the area, so it really is imperative that experts arrive on the scene as soon as possible.

The Department of Mineral Resources and Energy (DMRE) has sent a task team, comprising geological and mining experts, which is due to arrive today.

They will be accompanied by experts from Mintek (the Council for Mineral Technology), the Council for Geoscience, as well as the South African Diamond and Precious Metals Regulator.

Surely they could have sent someone sooner, given that videos started going viral on Saturday?

The ABC report goes on:

The lack of an analysis of the stones has not deterred fortune seekers. Long lines of parked cars on both sides of the gravel road could be seen just a few metres from an open field, where crowds dug through the soil with picks, shovels and forks to find riches…

Some people have started selling the stones, with the starting price ranging from 100 rand ($9.41) to 300 rand ($28).

That last bit is backed up by a TimesLIVE report, which says that “thousands of people” from surrounding areas are now pouring into the area in the hopes of striking it rich.

This footage was shared just after 4PM yesterday:

Current Situation at Kwahlathi in Ladysmith.

Neighboring communities have been pouring into the area where they believe to have found diamonds.@TimesLIVE pic.twitter.com/wM5XOCMxne

— 📝 TIMES_5 i v ē™ (@Mluleki_TZ5) June 14, 2021

More on those snapping up the stones at a cut-price:

A man who wouldn’t identify himself by name – but said he was a member of a mining union – said he was paying between R200 to R500 for the stones depending on the size.

He wouldn’t divulge anything further about where he was getting the cash to pay the miners.

One woman, a 57-year-old mother of four, said that she had already sold a number of stones.

We will only know whether it’s the sellers of these stones, or the buyers grabbing them for under R500, who are going to look back with regret when the official report comes out.

CapeTalk did have a chat with geologist, hydrologist, and palaeontologist Dr Gideon Groenewald, who offered this insight:

Kimberlite looks very similar to dolerite. In that area of KwaZulu-Natal, we have severe intrusions of dolerites. There are a lot of dolerites all over the place there.

In these fault zones, you can get beautiful extensive deposits of quartz crystals – so there is a possibility that these might be quartz crystals.

But, I don’t want to rule out that these might be diamonds because where the Tugela River is following a major fault zone. We have very ancient geology sticking out of the ground there as well so it is not impossible.

So you’re saying there’s a chance?

For those who have spent days digging, I hope they’re diamonds.

You can listen to Lester Kiewit’s full interview with Dr. Groenewald below:

[sources:abcnews&timeslive&capetalk]