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Kimberley-Big Hole


Kimberley-Big Hole
Photo Information
Copyright: Andrzej Korzeniowski (andrzej) Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 209 W: 67 N: 91] (2533)
Genre: Places
Medium: Color
Date Taken: 2006-12-01
Categories: Nature
Camera: Sony DSC-P100
Exposure: f/5.6, 1/160 seconds
More Photo Info: [view]
Photo Version: Original Version
Date Submitted: 2008-03-10 1:28
Viewed: 600
Points: 39
[Note Guidelines] Photographer's Note
Kimberley is famous for the Big Hole, which is often called the worlds deepest man made hole. Kimberley is the place where diamonds are found. And the Big Hole is a huge pit, almost circular and 215m deep, right in the middle of the town.
The diamonds found here were formed in vertical pipes. Huge layers of rocks eroded, and so it is cut through by today's surface. The circular pipe reaches the surface right on the farm, two Dutch settlers bought in 1871. The two brothers called Johannes Nicolaas and Diederik Arnoldus de Beer soon discovered the diamonds on their ground. This lead to a diamond rush, which made it impossible for them to keep the land. They were not able to protect it from the growing tide of intruders, so they sold it. And although they did not become the owners of the mines, one of the mines inherited their name and until today the diamond trade is connected with their names. De Beers is the company which today controls virtually all diamonds on Earth.

But back to history. First two big mines formed, the De Beers and Kimberley mines. Cecil John Rhodes and Charles Rudd gained control of both mines and merged them, forming De Beers Consolidated Mines Limited in 1888.

In the first time the diamonds were mined in an opencast mine, following the pipe. Colesberg Kopje soon disappeared and turned into a pit. The result was the Big Hole, a vast crater dug entirely with picks and shovels. In this opencast 2,722kg of diamonds were mined until it closed in 1914. It is the largest hand-dug excavation in the world.

Today the Big Hole is about 215m deep, but 40m of ground water leave only 175m visible. Originally the hole was 240m deep, but after it was abandoned it was used to throw debris in. The underground Kimberly Mine was mined to a depth of 1097m
limba3, Vaibhav27, c-ynthia, ved, Koala, Matylda76, LeenToppie, Tomek, UkeTex, moli, puffy, szekelykristof has marked this note useful
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Discussions
ThreadThread Starter Messages Updated
To moli: Wielka Dziuraandrzej 1 05-16 10:00
To Tomek: Big Holeandrzej 1 05-04 12:53
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Critiques [Translate]

Hi Andrzej,
A very nice shot,
Good composition,
And a nice note also,
TFS...

  • Great 
  • Fons Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Note Writer [C: 1516 W: 1 N: 136] (11827)
  • [2008-03-10 2:01]

very nice and colourful

Very impressive and coloured photo
TFS
Cynthia

Hi Andrej
Fantastic capture. The green is astonishing and the compo is wonderfull.
Regards, jmb

  • Great 
  • ved Gold Star Critiquer/Silver Workshop Editor/Silver Note Writer [C: 91 W: 16 N: 12] (517)
  • [2008-03-10 5:03]

a good capture... good colors, and a good POV.
tfs
ved

Ciekawe miejsce. Od samego patrzenia zawrót glowy. Fajne zdjęcie.
Pozdrawiam
Ryszard

  • Great 
  • tojav Gold Star Critiquer [C: 81 W: 0 N: 0] (537)
  • [2008-03-10 10:49]

Witaj
Niesamowite zdjęcie. Nie każdy może coś takiego oglądać... i wykonać. Osobiście wolałbym bez ramki. Pozdrawiam. Wiesiek

Hi Andrzej One of the best photos that I have seen of the Big Hole. This must have beentaken after the most recent renovations at this tourist spot. I find the horizon tilted and maybe you would like to correct that. Having beenthere I know that the horizon is level at the top of the hole.

Thanks for sharing

Wia

  • Great 
  • Ber Gold Star Critiquer/Silver Workshop Editor/Silver Note Writer [C: 251 W: 46 N: 37] (2934)
  • [2008-03-11 13:12]

Intrygujacy kolor! Jak zielone oczko ;) niesamowicie wyglada to miejsce
Pozdrawiam

  • Great 
  • Poraj Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Note Writer [C: 66 W: 0 N: 179] (736)
  • [2008-03-12 11:45]

Nie dość że big to jeszcze green. Piękne ujęcie i niezwykle soczysta kolorystyka. Surowe skały i tętniąca życiem. Robi wrażenie

  • Great 
  • limba3 Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 1112 W: 430 N: 391] (10969)
  • [2008-03-22 16:12]

Witaj
Miejsce wygląda fantastycznie, kolor wody i otoczenie wokół. Niedaleko widać wielkie miasto, gdybyś tego nie pokazał wyobrazałabym sobie, że to miejsce jest gdzieś na odludziu. Poza tym notaka pozwoliła mi poznać co to za miejsce.
TFS
Anna

witaj Andrzej!
doskonały POV i ciekawy opis miejsca;
moje zielone oko zanurza się w tej zielonej dziurze,heheh
piękne kolory
świetne ujęcie
pozdrawiam Karolina

Beautiful shot.
Dennis

Witam
pozwole napisac sobie po polsku , ciekawe miejsce i ciekawe ujecie i woda tak mocno zielona, ciekawa ta South Africa :)

wooow very nice colors and seems to be a beautifull place too..
Regards,
Leen

  • Great 
  • Tomek Gold Star Critiquer/Silver Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 1201 W: 38 N: 2075] (11962)
  • [2008-05-04 12:39]
  • [+]

Niesamowity widok Andrzeju:)
Ciekawe, ze to tylko tyle... nikt nie pokusil sie zeby kopac gdzies w poblizu? - ja bym pewnie wykopal pelno innych dziur obok (zakladajac, ze moglbym fizycznie to zrobic)
Bardzo ciekawe zdjecie - pozdrawiam, Tomek

Beautiful shot and a very informative note also..tfs!

  • Great 
  • moli Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 1186 W: 285 N: 1315] (7065)
  • [2008-05-16 9:42]
  • [+]

A tutaj widok jest wprost jak nie z tej ziemi. Co to za kolor wody. Wspaniale to wyglada. Obcial bym zdeczka ta gore tak z mojego punktu widzenia.
Serdecznosci.
J23

  • Great 
  • puffy Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 2014 W: 136 N: 3063] (16571)
  • [2008-05-18 21:45]

You know what... I just have an email send to me with the subject of Seven Amazing Holes in the world, and Kimberley hole is the biggest and here when I check out your gallery and you have one posting here too, :D

This look wonderful, great composition and colours, to me, I like to see it a bit sharpen, but of cos is just my personal taste. :D Excellent caputred,

Have a nice day,

Cheers,
Sweety

Hi Andrzej,
Thanks for critiquing me. That an amazing shot with an amazing lanscape. I have never seen such thing before. Beautiful colours, excellent sharpness. Grat shot! TFS.
Regards,
Kristof

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