How early could Diamonds be found in West Africa?

As per the title the question I ask for you all here is: How early could Diamonds be found in West Africa?

I mean more in the sense of large scale mining operations. I was watching the movie Blood Diamonds in school today and the way they get the Diamonds in Seirra Leone is by the incredibly primitive way of just panning for them in a river. So I got to ask how early can large scale mining like that happen? From what I understand those diamonds were not discovered when the British ran the place and there has to be some reason for doing so.
 
If the techniques are that simple, all you need is an impetus. You need people to place value in diamonds as early as possible. Perhaps one of the west African empires trades diamonds across the Sahara.
 
Well, until you get good faceting, diamonds are just glassy pebbles. OK, I exaggerate, but not a lot.
Edit: so they don't become very valuable until faceting was discovered in ?the 1500s?.
 
That's funny!
So kids had been playing with rough diamonds on the banks of the river. For thousands years. The only thing needed was to show these glassy pebbles to someone who knew anything about the value of diamonds.
It might be discovered because of a pure accident in 500 A.D. for instance.

Or it might not get discovered even now.

That's what alternate history is about.
Some things are governed by the rule of chance.

Sometimes chance governs fates of entire civilizations...
 
Well, until you get good faceting, diamonds are just glassy pebbles. OK, I exaggerate, but not a lot.
Edit: so they don't become very valuable until faceting was discovered in ?the 1500s?.

IIRC the first documented use of Dimaonds in jewlery in Europe was it's use on teh crown for the Queen of Hungary in the 1070's. And I think they were uncut diamonds.
 

mowque

Banned
That's funny!
So kids had been playing with rough diamonds on the banks of the river. For thousands years. The only thing needed was to show these glassy pebbles to someone who knew anything about the value of diamonds.

Well, they still ARE glassy pebbles. Diamonds aren't intrinsically worthwhile.
 

BlondieBC

Banned
As per the title the question I ask for you all here is: How early could Diamonds be found in West Africa?

I mean more in the sense of large scale mining operations. I was watching the movie Blood Diamonds in school today and the way they get the Diamonds in Seirra Leone is by the incredibly primitive way of just panning for them in a river. So I got to ask how early can large scale mining like that happen? From what I understand those diamonds were not discovered when the British ran the place and there has to be some reason for doing so.

For date where both the will and ability exists, I would say 1600. By then, there are several countries able to operate slave empires, export the diamonds to Europe, and process them. For me, the Dutch would seem to be the easiest choice.
 
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