Field Trip 3: Highveld Gems – From the Pre-Cambrian to the Cretaceous, South Africa

Field Trip 3 has been cancelled as the minimum registration numbers were not achieved. 

This field trip will visit the open pit Voorspoed, underground Cullinan and open pit Venetia Mines in the Highveld of South Africa. The Highveld comprises approximately thirty percent of South Africa's land area, the inland plateau which has an altitude above ~1500 m, but below ~2100 m, thus excluding the Lesotho mountain regions to the south-east. Interestingly, these kimberlites have a wide range in age from 120my (Voorspoed) to 520my (Venetia) and 1150my (Cullinan) with the latter being the largest underground mined kimberlite in the world. Transport will be in 30 seat luxury buses.

Field Trip Leaders
Andrew Macdonald and Ferdi Winter of De Beers Exploration Services.

Dates
Pre-Conference: Sunday 10 September to Saturday 16 September 2017
Post- Conference: Sunday 24 September 2017 to Saturday 30 September 2017

Fee
ZAR 21,750 (see registration page for further details)

Number of Delegates 

The pre- and post-conference field trips are restricted to 20 delegates each.
 
Start and End Points
Both are Johannesburg, South Africa.

Detailed Itinerary 
For a detailed field trip itinerary click here

Photo credits left to right: Venetia Mine open pit, sorted diamonds from Venetia, Venetia Mine plant, Venetia Mine, De Beers Group of Companies; 232 carat white diamond, Cullinan Mine, fish eye view of the Cullinan Diamond Mine, Petra Diamonds.