Kimberley is a city in the Northern Cape Province of South Africa whose name has become synonymous with the worldwide diamond industry. The city is the historical centre of the South African diamond rush of the 1870s, the location of the Big Hole open-pit excavation, the headquarters location and birthplace of De Beers Consolidated Mines, the namesake of the rock kimberlite that hosts most primary diamond deposits, and the host of the meeting that established the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme in 2003.

The diamond rush

Diamonds were discovered on the farm Vooruitzicht, owned by the De Beer brothers Diederik and Johannes, in 1871. Subsequent finds drew thousands of prospectors, and the area's open workings were consolidated through the 1880s under several companies, principally Cecil Rhodes' De Beers Consolidated Mines, formed in 1888 by amalgamation. The town that grew up around the workings was named Kimberley after the British colonial secretary at the time, the Earl of Kimberley.

The Big Hole

The Big Hole is the open-pit excavation that resulted from initial mining of the Kimberley pipe. It reached approximately 240 metres deep and 460 metres across at the surface before underground operations replaced open-pit mining. By the time mining ceased in 1914, approximately fourteen million carats of diamonds had been recovered, and approximately twenty-two million tonnes of rock excavated by hand and by primitive machinery. The Big Hole is preserved as a heritage site and museum, including the Kimberley Mine Museum operated by De Beers and successor entities.

De Beers

Kimberley is the historical headquarters location of De Beers Consolidated Mines, founded by Cecil Rhodes through a series of amalgamations completed in 1888. De Beers grew through the twentieth century to dominate the world diamond market, controlling at its peak in the 1980s an estimated 80 per cent or more of global rough diamond sales through the Central Selling Organisation. The company's headquarters subsequently moved to Johannesburg and London, and its market share has declined significantly since the 1990s, but the Kimberley association remains historically central.

Kimberlite

The pipe at Kimberley gave its name to kimberlite, the volcanic rock that forms the principal primary host of diamonds. Kimberlite was first studied scientifically at the Kimberley pipes and remains the type locality for the rock. Subsequent discovery of similar pipes in southern Africa, Russia, Canada, Australia, and elsewhere has generalised the term, but the original reference remains.

The Kimberley Process

In May 2000, representatives of southern African diamond-producing states, the broader diamond industry, and civil-society organisations met in Kimberley to begin discussions on a certification scheme to prevent the trade of conflict diamonds, those mined in war zones to fund armed groups against legitimate governments. The discussions led, after several years of negotiations, to the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme, which came into operation on 1 January 2003. The scheme requires participating states to certify the conflict-free status of rough-diamond shipments and to refuse imports from non-participating states. The scheme bears the name of the city where the discussions began.

Modern Kimberley

The city today retains diamond-related activity through the Kimberley Big Hole and Mine Museum, regional diamond cutting and trading operations, and the Sol Plaatje University. Active mining at the original Kimberley pipes ceased in the early 2000s, although diamonds are still recovered from tailings reprocessing. The diamond industry's centre of gravity has long since shifted to other South African operations and to international centres including Antwerp, Mumbai, and Dubai.

Significance

For the trade Kimberley is significant on three connected grounds. It is the historical foundation of modern diamond mining; it is the type locality of kimberlite, the rock that defines primary diamond geology; and it is the namesake of the Kimberley Process, the contemporary regulatory framework for conflict-free rough-diamond trade. Few cities have lent their name to as many of an industry's foundational concepts.