diamond rush
Sparkly prospector fever
A diamond rush is a sudden migration of prospectors to a region where diamonds have been discovered, hoping to strike it rich.
The term follows the pattern of gold rush, describing the frenzied scramble that accompanies news of valuable deposits: The diamond rush to South Africa began in the 1860s.
By extension, any rapid competitive pursuit of a valuable opportunity.
- De BeersDiamond mining conglomerate
- KimberleyAustralian wilderness region
- South AfricaRainbow nation
- prospectorsMineral deposit searchers
- fortune huntersThose seeking wealthy spouses
staking claims · boomtowns · mining town · tent city · find · wealth · greed · labor exploitation · blood diamonds · 19th century · colonial era · inequality · dig · speculation · claim · rough diamonds · stampede · colonialism
- resource boomsoil boom
- diamond prospectingprospecting, kimberlite, rough diamonds, pipes
- Kimberley DiamondsKimberley, De Beers, kimberlite, diggers, prospectors
- Gem HistoryKoh-i-Noor, Crown Jewels, ancient jewelry, Chinese jade
- Southern AfricaZulu, Kruger National Park, Angola, Shona, Zambia
- Boer historyBoers, Afrikaners, Transvaal, Anglo-Boer War, Kruger
diamond rushindustrial mining
Large-scale mineral extraction operations
geological survey · archaeological dig · strip mining · open-pit mining
diamond rushsubsistence farming
Growing food for household
economic stagnation · market stability · bust · economic depression
diamond rushghost town
Deserted former inhabited place
exodus · desertion · gradual decline · dormancy · fallow period