Fortunes Dashed: Stones Found at KwaHlati Village in Ladysmith Are Quartz Crystals, Not Diamonds
- MEC Ravi Pillay of the Economic Development, Tourism and Environmental Affairs Department has confirmed after testing that the stones found in KwaHlati village in KwaZulu-Natal are not diamonds
- More research is being done by the department to determine what the value of the quartz crystals actually is
- A team of investigators found that residents of KwaHlati village were faced with numerous socio-economic challenges so they are desperate
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KwaZulu-Natal Economic Development, Tourism and Environmental Affairs (Edtea) MEC Ravi Pillay confirmed that the stones found in KwaHlati village in Ladysmith are not diamonds but actually quartz crystals on Sunday, 20 June.
Source: Getty Images
According to IOL, Pillay stated testing revealed that quartz crystals are common across the Karoo Supergroup with extensional fracture planes. Furthermore, the informal mining site showed that it “was geographically located on the edge of the Karoo dolerite sill, which was not in a zone where diamond occurrences were present”.
Quartz crystals are less valuable than diamonds and the value of the quartz crystals found in KwaHlati is yet to be calculated.
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“The value, if any, of the quartz crystals is yet to be established but it must be mentioned that the value of quartz crystals is very low compared to that of diamonds,” said Pillay.
Pillay added that extensive geoscience studies needed to be done where the quartz crystals were found to investigate the possibility of groundwater and other natural resources that may contribute to local development and the economy of the KwaZulu-Natal province.
SABC news stated the team dispatched by the Department of Minerals Resources and Energy (DMRE) to investigate the stones in KwaHlati village found that the residents were faced with socio-economic challenges. They said they would present their findings to the Premier of KwaZulu-Natal. The team comprised of geological and mining experts.
“A report on the findings by the Council for Geoscience and on the socio-economic challenges in the area will be presented to Premier Sihle Zikalala and the entire provincial executive council. This will be the basis for us to formulate a coordinated response to all the challenges.
"Part of the response will have to focus on the issue of road and access to water. We will also formulate a comprehensive plan to rehabilitate the site on which digging is taking place,” stated the team.
The team pleaded with residents to continue with Covid-19 regulations and warned that continued mining in the area was illegal. Illegal mining practices have a negative impact on the environment and land degradation.
In a previous report by Briefly News, it was suggested that the throngs of people had flocked to the village of KwaHlathi in search of what they believed to be diamonds, following the discovery of stones.
Huge numbers of people travelled from across SA to join villagers, according to SowetanLIVE, adding that locals there have been digging since Saturday in search of the precious gemstone.
This inevitably resulted in illegal mining being conducted. According to Provincial Government Spokesperson Lennox Mabaso, the Department of Economic Development, Tourism and Environmental Affairs were instructed to notify the National Department of Minerals and Energy (DMRE) of the situation so that they may respond appropriately.
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Source: Briefly News
