Kimberley Diamond Rush, 1867–1888

Diamond discoveries near the Orange and Vaal rivers drew thousands of prospectors to southern Africa from 1867. Claims, transport, water and labour became sources of intense competition as open pits expanded around Kimberley.

Independent claims were gradually consolidated into large companies, most famously under Cecil Rhodes. Mining wealth changed regional politics, labour systems and the scale of British commercial ambition.

This context is appropriate for fiction about the Kimberley diggings, diamond claims, mining finance and the fortunes made during the late nineteenth-century rush.