MODERNIZATION OF DE BEERS CONSOLIDATED MINES, LTD. PROCESSING PLANT AT KIMBERLEY

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP83-00423R001100580001-5
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: C
• Document Page Count: 2
• Document Creation Date: November 9, 2016
• Document Release Date: October 29, 1998
• Sequence Number: 1
• Publication Date: October 28, 1953
• Content Type: REPORT

Approved For Release 1999/09/10 : CIA-RDP83-00423R001100580001-5
25X1A2g
Country:
Union of South Africa
CIA
Subject:
Modernization of De Beers Consolidated
Mines, Ltd. Processing Plant at Kimberley
27 October 1953
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Date of Info; 28
Oct 53
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:
Responsive to:
Place Acquired:
- -
ains information affecting the national defense of the
United States, wi itle 18, Sections 793 and 79L+, of the
U.S. Code, as amended. Its transmiss f its contents to or
receipt by an unauthorized person is prohibited. by law. of
this report is prohibited.
25X1A2g
This UNEVALUATED INFORMATION is supplied for the possible interest of your
analysts. It does not warrant dissemination by 25X1X6
25X1X6
1. De Beers Consolidated Mines, Ltd., which has a huge processing plant for
diamond ore at Kimberley, Griqualand West, South Africa, is presently doing
its crushing with 50, somewhat antiquated, roll mills and for the past year
have been shopping around for new machinery to modernize and increase the
production of this plant. They have decided on installing 25 new 36"
gyratory crushers. Their consulting engineers of the Anglo American Corpor-
ation of South Africa, at Johannesburg, feel that with these 25 gyratory
crushers De Beers will be able to equal or Rerhaps better their present
capacity of 10,000 tons of diamondiferous per day. In other words, they
feel that one gyratory crusher will do the work of two of their present
roll mills. Mr. Howard Taylor, about 40 years, of age and of English
descent, the general manager at De Beers, and a Mr. Colvin, about 16 years
of age and also of English descent, superintendent at De Beers, told me
that they also plan to rehandle the several dumps. in order to get out the
smaller diamonds which were missed during the first handling. There. are
about five of these dumps containing about 5,000,000 tons each in the
Kimberley area.
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RETURN TO CIA
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AnnrLI F b release 1999/09/10[:10- ~ ~ ff'w W [YI-00580'b~1 %" -epa t'
 App, oved For Release 1999/09/10 : CIA-RDP83-00423RO01100580001-5
CONFIDENTIAL/US OFFICIALS ONLY
SECURITY IlVFORMATION
2. The yield at Kimberley per 10,000 tons handled averages about one pound.,
or about 2,000 carats. Of this one pound, about 60% are industrial
diamonds and the remainder are gems.
3.
We have been dealing with Mix. Bone (fnu), who is an assistant engineer
in the Johannesburg office of the Anglo American Corporation of South
Africa, who is doing some of the engineering for De Beers. We were
under the impression that contracts would have been let and perhaps some
deliveries made by this time. However, the project is still more or less
under discussion.
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Approved For Release 1999/09/10 : CIA-RDP83-00423RO01100580001-5