<Tr> <Th> Owner </Th> <Td> The people of South Africa </Td> </Tr> <P> The Eureka Diamond was the first diamond discovered in South Africa . It originally weighed 21.25 carats (4.250 g), and was later cut to a 10.73 - carat (2.146 g) cushion - shaped brilliant, which is currently on display at the Mine Museum in Kimberley . The discovery of diamonds in South Africa led to the Kimberley Diamond Rush, and marked the beginning of the Mineral Revolution . </P> <P> The Eureka Diamond was found near Hopetown on the Orange River by a 15 year old boy named Erasmus Stephanus Jacobs in 1867 . Soon afterward, Schalk Van Niekerk entrusted the stone to John O'Reilly, who took it to Colesberg to inquire as to its nature and value . The stone came under the view of the acting Civil Commissioner Lourenzo Boyes, who on seeing that the stone cut glass declared: "I believe it to be a diamond ." The stone was then sent by mail in an ordinary paper envelope to Dr. William Guybon Atherstone, the colony's foremost mineralogist, in Grahamstown . Atherstone confirmed that it was a 21.25 carat (4.25 g) diamond (although some sources put the weight at 24 carats (4.8 g)). </P> <P> The Eureka was put on display at the 1867 Paris Exhibition, although some sources claim that this was a glass replica, and that the real diamond was sent on to Windsor for inspection by Queen Victoria . On its return to South Africa, the Eureka was bought for £ 500 by the Governor of the Cape Colony, Sir Philip Wodehouse . Sir Philip took it with him to the United Kingdom, where it remained for 100 years, during which time it was cut . On 16 April 1946, the Eureka was sold in London at a Christie's public auction as part of a bangle, for £ 5,700 . In 1967, 100 years after the diamond's discovery, De Beers purchased the diamond and donated it to the South African people . The diamond was placed in the Kimberley Mine Museum, where it is currently on display . </P>

Who found the first diamond in south africa