Kimberlite pipe Big hole (big Hole) - open diamond mine in past years Kimberly. The first diamonds here were found on the hill by members of the red hats" from the city of Colesberg farm Vooruitzigt belonging De Beers brothers. The ensuing diamond rush led to the creation of a small mining town of Rush, later renamed Kimberley. From mid-July 1871 to 1914, 50,000 operating manually dug a great ditch with picks and shovels and got 2 720 kg of diamonds. Big Hole width 463 m was excavated to a depth of 240 m, but then partially filled with debris, reducing a depth of 215 m. Since then, he has collected about 40 m of water, resulting in visible left 175 m of the pit. After ground operations became too dangerous and unproductive, the company "De Beers" began to mine the kimberlite rock is in the closed mine at a depth of 1097 m.

In 1872, a year after work started, the population of the camps has grown to 50,000 people. Many miners died in accidents in the mines, and due to disease and unsanitary conditions, shortage of water, fresh food and extreme heat in the summer. March 13, 1888 the leaders of the various mines has taken the decision to merge separate excavations into one big mine and one big company known as De Beers Consolidated Mines Limited" under the direction of Cecil John Rhodes, Alfred Beit and Barney Barnato. This large company was working on a big Hall until he reached a depth of 215 m with a surface area of about 17 hectares and a perimeter of 1, 6 km. By 14 August 1914, when more than 22 million tons of earth were dug and received almost 3,000 kg of diamonds, work at the mine was discontinued. She currently is the largest mine on earth, dug by hand. In 2005, the researchers counted and found that the hand-dug Jagersfontein diamond mine and Bultfontein, also located in South Africa, deeper and more mine the big Hole, but they were created using earth moving equipment, rather than a purely manual labour.

Diamond mining in the big Hall was closed in 1914. Over time more and more tourists began to arrive in Kimberley to see the quarry, which has become a landmark. In 1960 it was decided to collect in one place the old buildings and a Museum. In 1965 the company "De Beers" has appointed Basil Humphreys consultant "Museum under the open sky early Kimberly - urban scenery, dioramas, exhibits of mining equipment and transport. The official opening of the Museum took place during the celebration of the centennial of Kimberley in 1971.

The Museum collection is constantly updated with new exhibits during the diamond rush. Between 2002 and 2005, the company De Beers has invested 50 million for the reconstruction of the mining town, which once flourished around the "Big hole", Kimberley, to attract tourists from all over the world.