From diamond mine to national park: Indonesia’s South Kalimantan looks to boost economy

From diamond mine to national park: Indonesia’s South Kalimantan looks to boost economy

PIGEON EGG SIZE DIAMOND DISCOVERY

Cempaka mine is one of the largest diamond mines in Indonesia.

In August 1965, the mine was in the headlines whenever miners reportedly found a 166. 75-carat diamond. Its dimension was almost as big as a pigeon’s ovum.  

The particular diamond was delivered to Jakarta in early September. Then Indonesian chief executive Soekarno named it Trisakti, meaning thrice sacred in Sanskrit.

It is estimated that the diamond was really worth trillions of rupiah at that time.  

Hence, the government promised to reward the particular 24 miners exactly who found the gemstone. At that time, it was documented that the miners would be sent on a haj pilgrimage and their own future generations will be taken care of.

But on Sep 30, an attempted coup d’etat took place. Within 1966, Soekarno was forced to hand crisis powers to Soeharto who later grew to become the country’s second president.

Eventually, the authorities lost track of the location of the diamond, based on the Ministry of Travel and leisure and Creative Economic climate. But they did maintain their promise associated with sending the miners on a pilgrimage.  

Trisakti is not really the only big stone discovered in Cempaka.  

In 1850, a 106. 7-carat diamond was found there. Four years earlier, a 20-carat diamond was also found out.  

Given these past activities, the history of the my own will be an integral part of the brand new tourist park, mentioned Yani.

“We will educate individuals who in 1965, miners found a diamond as big as a (pigeon’s) egg there, ” said Yani.

Another interesting element of mining in Cempaka is how the local people have their own taboos, said Noor Purbani, a senior formal with Banjarbaru’s travel and leisure agency.  

For instance, It is frowned upon to say the term diamond if they believe it is. Instead, the miners must call it “galuh”, meaning girl in the local language.

According to Purbani, the miners believe that the rock might disappear if they call it a gemstone.