South African authorities say that the stones found in the village of KwaHlathi last month are not diamonds, but quartz crystals, this writes BBC.
A shepherd first found the diamond-like stones. As the news spread, thousands traveled to the village to dig for what they hoped were diamonds, despite the lack of analyzes of the stone.
The village is located more than 300 kilometers south-east of Johannesburg.
Broken dreams
After analyzing the stone, it turned out that it was not diamond, but quartz crystals that are far less valuable. After feldspar, quartz is the most widespread mineral in the earth’s crust.
– The tests that were performed revealed that the stones that were discovered in the area are not diamonds, the local authorities stated.
This happened in one of the poor regions of the country, and several of those who went to the village hoped that this could be the salvation for them.
– GRAVES: A woman in search of diamonds. Later it turned out that the search was in vain, when the authorities stated that it was in fact quartz crystals. Photo: Siphiwe Sibeko / Reuters
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Suffering from the pandemic
Following the corona pandemic, the country has seen an increase in the number of unemployed. Before the pandemic, South Africa was also characterized by great economic inequality.
The country has had more corona cases than any other country on the continent. More than 1.8 million have been confirmed infected, and nearly 60,000 coronary deaths have been recorded.
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