Cullinan Mine & the Cradle of Humankind
Days Nine, Ten, Eleven, & Twelve - Botswana & Victoria Falls - 2018
After spending two days transferring back to Johannesburg, I explored Cullinan Mine -the only active diamond mine you can visit- as well as the Cradle of Humankind UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Map Credit: OpenStreetMap
1. Cullinan Mine #1
The largest rough diamond ever discovered -the 3106 carat Cullinan Diamond- was found at the Cullinan Mine (then the Premier Mine) in 1905.
Days nine and ten were spent transferring from the Makgadikgadi Pan to Johannesburg via Victoria Falls - two wonderfully relaxing days after the hustle-and-bustle of the safari over the last week. On day eleven, I traveled to the village of Cullinan, northeast of Johannesburg, to do an underground tour at the Cullinan Mine. This is the only active diamond mine which tourists can visit. After suiting up, we linked up with our guide, George, and headed through the facility to get our safety briefings and equipment.
2. Cullinan Mine #2
All visitors are given a headlamp and a rebreather in case of emergency.
3. Cullinan Mine #3
Like most everything at the Cullinan Mine, this equipment is kept under lock-and key.
4. Cullinan Mine #4
We then proceeded to the main elevator to travel 763 meters (2503 feet) underground. At the time, this was the second-deepest part of the mine. To put this into context, this is nearly as deep underground as the tallest building is above ground.
5. Cullinan Mine #5
The mine is, surprisingly, like most any offices you might find, albeit darker and dustier: running water, ventilation, and -in some common areas- air conditioning are common…
6. Cullinan Mine #6
…and even full-sized trucks can be found here! (This, by the way, should lend context to how large and capable the elevator is in this complex!)
7. Cullinan Mine #7
Nearly all of the main passages of level 763 have rail tracks laid in to aid in moving equipment and, of course, kimberlite and the diamonds contained within.
8. Cullinan Mine #8
At one point in the tour, George advised us to hastily get inside a small bypass corridor. Moments later, a small locomotive pulling several cars of kimberlite came screaming by - after the locomotive passed, an entire section of track lifted at an angle, forcing the hoppers to drop their loads into a chute and into a processing area.
9. Cullinan Mine #9
The sound and dust cloud this process made was furious!
10. Cullinan Mine #10
Shortly afterwards, the locomotive reversed and headed back down the tunnel to collect more raw kimberlite.
11. Cullinan Mine #11
Safety first!
12. Cullinan Mine #12
We explored various processing and logistical areas over a fairly large area inside the mine. I couldn’t tell you exactly how far inwards we went (probably just a small percentage of the way, if I were to guess), but the scale of the operation was mind-blowing.
13. Cullinan Mine #13
Lots of motorized equipment puttered around the corridors, many of which on Level 763 were first built in the 1970s. The further into the mine you go, the newer the equipment becomes, so it is like traveling in a time machine. Here we were in the early to mid-1980s (the aluminum age of office equipment!)
14. Cullinan Mine #14
All of the diamond-containing rock in the mine must be transported by large lift elevators to the surface; rather than move large chunks of kimberlite, the pieces are placed on this grate where an extremely large and powerful hydraulic ram breaks the rocks into smaller pieces. The bit will break the kimberlite but not damage the significantly harder diamond.
15. Cullinan Mine #15
This is an incredibly hearty (and loud!) piece of equipment…
16. Cullinan Mine #16
…which I suspect was designed and built by a mad scientist….
17. Cullinan Mine #17
While we were admiring the crusher, a wheel loader came by with a bucket of kimberlite. Somewhere in there is probably several thousand U.S. dollars worth of diamonds…
18. Cullinan Mine #18
…which were nonchalantly dumped into the crushing area….
19. Cullinan Mine #19
Back on the surface (after a very entertaining elevator ride after Level 763’s shift change!), George took us past a slew of “No Entrance” signs to an overlook of the Cullinan Mine. He pointed out where the Cullinan Diamond was found (near as makes no difference where the center of the visible part of the pit meets the shadow on the right side).
20. Cullinan Mine #20
George worked the mine for decades, and everyone in the facility seemed to know who he was. Diamonds are this man’s life.
21. Cullinan Mine #21
Here are the conveyor belts which move the kimberlite to an above-ground washing and processing area where diamonds are finally separated and catalogued. George mentioned employees do occasionally find fully separated diamonds underground and are traditionally paid out for their value if they are immediately reported to management.
22. Cullinan Mine #22
Here is the aforementioned elevator which lifts the (now smaller) kimberlite and diamond rocks above ground.
23. Cradle of Humankind #1
The Cradle of Humankind is a UNESCO World Heritage site composed of several sites northeast of Johannesburg which yielded a large volume of humanoid fossils. As many of these sites are on private property, a visitor’s center -called Maropeng- was built.
Day twelve was spent at the Cradle of Humankind, specifically the Maropeng Visitor’s Center and the Sterkfontein Cave. The former (depicted here) is a large science center which details human evolution in depth.
24. Cradle of Humankind #2
Maropeng had a wonderful temporary exhibit on the newly-discovered Homo naledi humanoid discovered at the nearby Rising Star Cave.
25. Cradle of Humankind #3
The bones from the Rising Star Cave are estimated to be about 250,000 years old.
26. Cradle of Humankind #4
At the back of the Cradle of Humankind is an overlook where you can see across the region where the majority of history’s significant humanoid fossils were located.
27. Sterkfontein Cave
Nearby to Maropeng is the Sterkfontein Cave where, in 1947, a generally complete Australopithecus africanus skull was discovered. The skull, nicknamed “Mrs. Ples", significantly furthered our understanding of how humans evolved from chimpanzees.
