Читать книгу The History of Mining - Michael Coulson - Страница 68

Barnato, who had always had exposure to the Big Pit, had gained control of the Central Company which had formerly been controlled by Francis Baring-Gould. He merged Central with Robinson’s Standard Company in 1887 as Robinson divested himself of his shares to clear his bank debts. In summary, Rhodes had the De Beers Mine now sown up and Barnato had a very large stake in the Kimberley Mine, but there were still important stakeholders at Kimberley who Barnato needed to win over before he had complete control of the Big Pit.

One of these was Compagnie Francaise des Diamonds du Cap, popularly known as the French Company, which unsurprisingly was primarily owned by investors in Paris, including financier Jules Porges. Rhodes needed an interest in the Kimberley Mine if he was to achieve his dream of total amalgamation of all the Kimberley mines, which as well as De Beers and Kimberley included the Dutoitspan and Bulfontein mines. He decided to have a tilt at the French Company, but with much of his wealth tied up in the De Beers Mine he had to borrow over £1 million to have a chance of acquiring the French Company and thus getting himself into Kimberley.