A preliminary scientific report has confirmed that stones being excavated by illegal prospectors at a poor, rural area outside the KwaZulu-Natal town of Ladysmith are quartz crystals, and not the life-altering diamonds that many diggers had hoped.
As previously reported by Daily Maverick, thousands of mostly locals, and some from other parts of the province and country, have been flocking to a 50ha area in the village of KwaHlathi to dig for diamonds since an unidentified stone was unearthed on Saturday, 12 June 2021 by a herdsman.
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