Cullinan Mine Tours

Cullinan Mine Tours

Cullinan/Premier Mine

Established in 1902, it was renamed the Cullinan Diamond Mine in November 2003 in celebration of its centenary. The mine rose to prominence in 1905, when the Cullinan Diamond — the largest rough diamond of gem quality ever found (3106 carats) and now part of the British Crown Jewels — was discovered there.

It remains a fully operational mine and has produced over 750 stones that are greater than 100 carats and more than a quarter of all the world’s diamonds that are greater than 400 carats. It is also the only significant source of blue diamonds in the world – it produces 25% of the entire world’s production of gem quality diamonds.

The Cullinan/Premier Mine’s open pit is four times the size of South Africa’s famous Kimberly diamond hole.

NB: This is a surface tour only = UNDERGROUND GUIDED TOURS CAN BE ARRANGED ON REQUEST - as this is a fully operational mine NO PERSONS UNDER 18y allowed by law !

Itinerary
This is a typical itinerary for this product

Stop At: Cullinan Diamond Mine, Oak Avenue, Cullinan South Africa

Surface Tour

This tour covers the history of the mine, mining methods and the geological processes of that are responsible for the creation of diamonds. The tour demonstrates how diamonds are extracted from the ground; visit the big hole, mine shaft and the hoist room. Guests can view the polishing and delicate cutting operations done by master diamond cutters, which shape the diamonds into the jewellery you can buy around the world. You can also view replicas of the world famous diamonds found at Cullinan, Dinokeng.

Underground Mine Tour

The adventurous tourists can take an underground tour of a working diamond mine, which involves changing into special safety gear and heading down in the cage more than 700 meters below the surface. The temperature on the underground tour is a comfortable 28C.

The Underground tour does include parts of the surface tour.

Duration: 5 hours