The tiny town of Jagersfontein in the Xhariep Region of the Western Free State has a rich and notable history that once formed a solid foundation for the town’s value as a tourist destination, but, sadly, no more.
Jagersfontein had a place on the map not only as the oldest diamond mining town in the world, and the source of the world famous blue ‘Jager’ diamonds, but also as the location of the world’s biggest man-made hole – the open cast diamond mine that is bigger than the far more famous Kimberley Hole.
It was once possible to visit the hole and enjoy a tiny Diamond Mining Museum situated next to the open cast mine pit in a tiny old white house that is itself a period piece. A 3 day 35km hike called the Diggers Groot Gat hike was also available, but the entire area has been closed off and is under security “for safety reasons” (according to a local).
Without the mine, there’s not a lot to see or do in and around Jagersfontein…but read further if you are interested in diamonds or the diamond mining heritage of South Africa, and enjoy a couple of links out to further info on the past and future of Jagersfontein’s part of this fascinating aspect of South Africa’s history and the foundation of its wealth.
The mine at Jagersfontein pre-dates that of Kimberley by three years. Jagersfontein was the first place in South Africa where diamonds were found, when what was just a very remote farm belonging to Griqua farmer Jacobus Jagers become a destination of dreams for hungry prospectors after a farm worker found a 50 carat diamond in a stream on the property in 1870. Digging began and Jagersfontein sprang up around an ever deepening hole in the ground.
Just three years later, the 972 carat Excelsior Diamond was found, and this discovery was followed by that of the 637 carat Reitz Diamond in 1895 – later named the Jubilee Diamond. In addition to producing two of the ten largest diamonds ever found, the diamonds discovered in Jagersfontein are famed world-wide for their quality, brilliance and a distinctive bluish tint. Sadly for Jagersfontein, the ‘eureka’ moments dried up and the mine closed in 1971. The deepest open mine pit in the world is today just a relic of a prosperous past, and one that can only be viewed from the air.
Read more on Jagersfontein’s Excelsior Diamond
Take a tour round some old historical buildings, stay the night to enjoy true small town local hospitality, stock up on some Witblits at the local bottle store, then drive on to the next tiny old Free State town…or…well, Jagersfontein may be an imminent ghost-town, but all it would take is for the Superkolong Consortium that bought the site and the surface dumps for R40 million in 2010 to find a diamond the last owner, the De Beers Group, missed…
Hopefully, we’ll get to rewrite this post in the future…
Getting there: From Bloemfontein take the R706 south, turning right to Jagersfontein on the R704.
