He assured me that that diamond's value could have been over a billion dollars, but not under it.

I believed him, because he had devoted twenty-seven years to hunting for it, and was, in a position to know.
A fitting and interesting finish to an examination of the tedious and laborious and costly processes whereby the diamonds are gotten out of the deeps of the earth and freed from the base stuffs which imprison them is the visit to the De Beers offices in the town of Kimberley, where the result of each day's mining is brought every day, and, weighed, assorted, valued, and deposited in safes against shipping-day.

An unknown and unaccredited person cannot, get into that place; and it seemed apparent from the generous supply of warning and protective and prohibitory signs that were posted all about, that not even the known and accredited can steal diamonds there without inconvenience.
We saw the day's output--shining little nests of diamonds, distributed a foot apart, along a counter, each nest reposing upon a sheet of white paper.

That day's catch was about $70,000 worth.

In the course of a year half a ton of diamonds pass under the scales there and sleep on that counter; the resulting money is $18,000,000 or $20,000,000.