Argyle: The Impossible Story of Australian Diamonds

by Stuart Kells

Overview

The remote Kimberley region of Western Australia has a rich history and unique geography. In the 1960s De Beers, the world's largest diamond company, sent gem-hunters to the area but they came away empty-handed. It was a vast region to survey, and they'd overlooked something vital. A few years later, a team of Australian geologists with a tiny budget searched for even tinier mineral clues. Those clues led them to the earth's largest diamond deposit and the world's richest source of rare pink diamonds. Based on in-depth research and interviews - including with Alan King Jones, Bill Leslie and 'the father of Australian diamonds', Ewen Tyler - Argyle: The Impossible Story of Australian Diamonds details the almost overwhelming challenges with realising a diamond mining venture in Australia, shows how these obstacles were overcome, and explores the mine's impact and legacy.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780522877267
Publisher:	Melbourne University Publishing
Publication date:	03/02/2021
Sold by:	SIMON & SCHUSTER
Format:	eBook
Pages:	320
File size:	7 MB

About the Author

Historian Stuart Kells has twice won the Ashurst Business Literature Prize, and has been shortlisted for the Prime Minister's Literary Award, the NSW Premier's General History Prize and the University of Queensland Non-Fiction Book Award. Kells' shorter pieces have appeared in The Paris Review, The Times, Lapham's Quarterly, Smithsonian, The Guardian, National Geographic Traveller, and The Daily Beast. He is Adjunct Professor at La Trobe University's College of Arts, Social Sciences and Commerce.

Table of Contents

Foreword Geoffrey Blainey vii

Map of the Kimberleys xiii

Abbreviations xv

Author's note xvi

Prologue 1

1 Breaking out of the Congo 9

2 A dual role 16

3 The allure of diamonds 19

4 Tyler's mining start-up 26

5 Looking for diamonds in Australia 37

6 M109 44

7 Opposite sides 50

8 The price of silence 54

9 To Oombulgurri 59

10 Steel balls 65

11 A new partner 72

12 A long-term perspective 78

13 The great explorer 84

14 Ellendale 91

15 The jewel box 98

16 Jumped 104

17 A major force 112

18 Distribution is everything 116

19 An astonishing sight 123

20 A South African monopoly 136

21 Finding the money 146

22 Are there diamonds? 153

23 Mandangala 160

24 Winan 166

25 Western Australia Incorporated 174

26 The decision to mine 181

27 Digging for diamonds 191

28 Champagne diamonds 200

29 Falling out 211

30 A clean sweep 222

31 Spiders, bandicoots, cockatoos and Pigeons 230

32 After Argyle 240

33 A joint adventure 249

Acknowledgements 259

Notes 263

Bibliography 291

Index 293

Editorial Reviews

‘Fascinating and lucid . . . a valuable insight into an industry once widely praised but now undervalued by a nation that relies on it so strongly.’ —Geoffrey Blainey

From the Publisher