South African ‘Diamond Rush’ Unearths Only Quartz Crystals, Officials Say

Fortune seekers are seen as they flock to the village after pictures and videos were shared on social media showing people celebrating after finding what they believe to be diamonds, in the village of KwaHlathi outside Ladysmith, in KwaZulu-Natal province, South Africa, on June 14, 2021. Siphiwe Sibeko/File Photo/Reuters

JOHANNESBURG—Unidentified stones that lured thousands of fortune seekers to a rural South African village to mine the land with picks and shovels were not diamonds as hoped, officials said on Sunday, but quartz stones with relatively low, if any, value.

People from across South Africa travelled to KwaHlathi in the country’s eastern KwaZulu-Natal province where villagers had been digging since June 12 after a herder discovered the first stone in an open field and put out the word.