Big Hole
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The Big Hole is a huge open-pit mine in Kimberley, South Africa and claimed to be the largest hole excavated by hand.
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[edit] History
From 1866 to 1914 50 000 miners dug the hole with picks and shovels, yielding 2 722 kg of diamonds. The Big Hole has a surface of 17 hectares and is 463 metres wide. It was excavated to a depth of 240 m but then partially infilled with debris reducing its depth to about 215 m; since then it has accumulated water to a depth of 40 m leaving 175 m visible. The underground Kimberly Mine was mined to a depth of 1097 metres. There is currenly an effort in progress to register the Big Hole as a World Heritage Site[1]
[edit] Not the biggest
In 2005, Steve Lunderstedt, reported after doing intensive research he discovered that it was actually not the biggest hand-made excavation. By studying historical records of several man-made mines, he discovered that the title belongs to the Jagersfontein Mine. He claims a comparison between the Big Hole and other mines were never made and it was just assumed to be the biggest and used as selling point for tourist attraction.[2]
[edit] See also
[edit] References
[edit] External links
Show mines of South Africa: Kimberley Mine - Big Hole
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