wedding rings, because the stones were so abundant that prices kept falling. Smuggling of diamonds in pockets, mouths, and body cavities brought the prices even lower, since the smugglers were often poor laborers desperate for a quick sale. Rhodes and his allies, incorporated as DeBeers, bought every mining concession they could (each being only a few feet wide) until they controlled the majority of the market, then began to squeeze everyone else out, so that profit margins were pushed higher and higher.
Early stage of mining in Kimberly. Each claimant measured out a square or rectangular plot and began digging straight down, from one edge to the opposite. Faster diggers quickly made deeper holes -- and anything that tumbled down into them from one of the slower diggers became their property.
A later stage of mining in "The Big Hole". Each rope corresponds to a claim -- buckets were hauled up the ropes from the ever-lower dig sites to screening stations above ground.
Today, "The Big Hole" is abandoned and partially filled with water. It is believed to be the deepest hole ever dug by hand.
Described in considerable detail in Rhodes' bio: https://archive.org/details/foundercecilrhod0000rotb_p0z9/mode/2up
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