What Is the Deepest Hole Ever Dug by Hand?

Today, engineers use machines of many kinds to dig holes for oil pick and shovel to dig holes in the wells and mines.

But before the invention of these machines, man had to use his own hands and a pick and shovel to dig holes in the ground. The world’s deepest hole of this kind was a diamond mine in Kimberley, South Africa.

This pit was 1,200 feet deep and about 1,500 feet across, and took 43 years to dig! Workers began the pit in 1871, and it wasn’t finished until 1914!

The amount of earth that had to be removed to dig the pit weighed more than 28 million tons. But only about three tons of diamonds were taken from all that earth!