Gems discovered in South Africa are ‘quartz, not diamonds’

Preliminary findings come after thousands flocked to a hillside in KwaZulu-Natal last week.

Gemstones that sparked a diamond rush to eastern South Africa last week are just quartz after all, according to preliminary findings. Thousands of people had flocked to a hillside in South Africa’s KwaZulu-Natal province to dig for mysterious stones first unearthed by a cattle herder and believed to be diamonds. The rush prompted the government to send geoscientists and mining experts to collect samples for testing, the results of which quashed the dreams of diggers hoping to strike it rich.