Desperate miners of KwaHlathi refuse to stop digging for "diamonds"
- Desperate miners, who had flocked to the quiet KwaZulu-Natal town of KwaHlathi in the hopes of striking it rich mining for diamonds, have refused to stop digging
- The KwaZulu-Natal Economic Development, Tourism and Environmental Affairs (Edtea) MEC Ravi Pillay confirmed that the "diamonds" found earlier were actually quartz crystals
- The miners have been warned that their activities pose a threat of spreading Covid-19 as well as damage to the environment
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Despite confirmation from KwaZulu-Natal Economic Development, Tourism and Environmental Affairs (Edtea) MEC Ravi Pillay Read that the "diamonds" found in KwaHlathi near Ladysmith were actually quartz crystals residents refuse to stop digging.
On Monday around 200 people gathered at the "mining" site to continue their search for precious stones.
Source: Twitter
The miners posed a huge risk for Covid-19 transmission and the mining operations were a threat to the environment according to TimesLIVE.
Officials warned the miners that their activities were illegal and in violation of Covid-19 safety measures.
Minister confirms that diamonds are in fact quartz crystals
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.
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”.
“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.
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Thousands flock to KwaZulu-Natal town infected with "diamond fever"
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
