For the or so miners that toil at the Cempaka mine, Indonesia's largest diamond producer, each day provides hope that one of them will find the next massive rare diamond there.
Cempaka is in South Kalimantan in Indonesia, and has provided some huge finds for miners in the past. In , a 3. But it's still dwarfed by 's find of a carat gem that was nearly the size of a pigeon's egg. The Trisakti diamond, as it was later named, was sold off at auction. Ulet Ifansasti, an Indonesian photographer who went down to the mine to shoot for Getty Images, told Mashable that he met miners aged 17 to 70 at the site.
One of the oldest miners told him he had been working there for the past 50 years, in hopes of finding the next Trisakti. But the life of a diamond miner can be fraught with danger, Ifansasti pointed out. There are also disputes over territory, said Ifansasti. The workers are freelance, not hired by BDI now owned by LSE-listed Gem Diamonds , and head to the mine in groups of ten to stake out spots with potential.
Groups of miners which dig in competitors' spots have come to clashes before, and people have been killed in the conflicts, he said.
Cempaka's mine is located near to the Martapura city center, which has become a tourist attraction for its numerous shops carrying diamonds at purported bargains. Kalimantan has had several diamond mines since the 18th century when it was under Dutch rule.
