Residents of Ladysmith, Uthukela district, KwaZulu-Natal were in an ecstatic mood when a cattle farmer found special stones he thought to be diamonds in KwaHlathi.
South Africans joined to dig by their numbers for more diamonds but a team of technical experts have revealed what they found were quartz crystals and not diamonds as first thought.
Many locals had thought they had hit a breakthrough with the crystals but the latest revelation will be a blow to their desires.
A KwaZulu-Natal Economic Development official Ravi Pillay said that “The tests conducted conclusively reveals that the stones discovered in the area are not diamonds as some had hoped.”
The actual worth and value of the crystals are yet to be revealed but analysts have said they are much lower than the value of diamonds.
The hill, in KwaHlathiis is located 40km away from Kwa-Zulu Natal and is 300km away from biggest city, Johannesburg. Quartz, a constituent of granite and igneous rocks, is the second most abundant mineral in the earth crust.
Angola is the largest producer of quartz in Africa with more than $5million worth of the mineral substance sold every year.
Pure quartz sands can be used in purifying water systems. Little chips of the substance are also found in televisions, computers, watches, clocks and stereos due to its ability to generate an electric voltage that can control all frequencies of electric impulses, when the substance is placed under pressure.
While locals may not have hit a jackpot as first thought, it may be a new discovery and source of foreign exchange or local production resource for the nation’s home industries.