Big Hole Kimberley Museum

The Big Hole in Kimberley, Northern Cape, South Africa, is one of the largest hand-dug excavations in the world, a massive open-pit mine dug by diamond miners between 1871 and 1914 during the Kimberley diamond rush. The site is now operated as a museum and tourism destination by De Beers, telling the story of the discovery of diamonds in South Africa (the origin of the De Beers mining empire) and the birth of the modern diamond industry. The Big Hole is a National Heritage Site.