Stones that sparked a ‘diamond rush’ are just quartz, tests reveal

Up to 3,000 people flocked to remote South African village, but experts say value of the crystals is very low

Unidentified stones that lured thousands of fortune seekers to a rural South African village were not diamonds as hoped, officials said on Sunday, but quartz stones with relatively low, if any, value.

People from across South Africa travelled to KwaHlathi in the country's eastern KwaZulu-Natal province where villagers had been digging with picks and shovels since 12 June after a herder discovered the first stone in an open field and put out the word.