The South African government has launched a formal investigation into claims made on social media of the existence of massive diamonds within easy reach near the town of Ladysmith, about 360 kilometers (224 miles) southeast of Johannesburg.
The country’s Department of Mineral Resources and Energy ordered people on Tuesday to halt the search as thousands continue to travel from across South Africa to join villagers who have been digging in the area since Saturday.
The Department noted it was sending a team of geological and mining experts to the site to collect samples and conduct an analysis.
The KwaZulu-Natal provincial government took to Twitter to express its concern on the unprecedented “diamond rush”:
KwaZulu-Natal premier Sihle Zikalala expressed concern about the crowd gathering in the area, saying illegal mining activities could violate covid-19 regulations.
For the rest of this article: https://www.mining.com/watch-thousands-rush-to-dig-for-diamonds-in-south-africa/