PLEASURE PIT In Botswana, the world’s most valuable diamond mine grows deeper every day. More than 1.5 billion dollars of diamonds are extracted from Jwaneng Mine each year, accounting for roughly 15% of the world’s diamond production. In the process, a machine-made landscape has been created, in stark contrast to the flat terrain of the Kalahari Desert. The open pit, from which the diamonds are unearthed, will eventually become 2,700 feet deep: half the depth of the Grand Canyon. The waste rock removed from the pit is piled up into large hills. The ore, which contains only 0.00005% diamond, is crushed
up and filtered automatically by a series of x-rays, magnets, and lasers. The tailings then pass through more than three miles of conveyor belts before they are dumped to the south of the pit. The Jwaneng Mine continues to expand, despite the fact that diamonds of a similar quality can now be produced in a laboratory for a fraction of the cost. Consumers are persuaded to pay a higher price for diamonds that are mined from the earth because they are led to believe the romantic notion that they are natural. In fact, the beauty of a diamond is only revealed after it has been mined, cut, and polished.
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