The discovery of diamonds on the remote and arid west coast of Southern Africa sparked a rapid transformation of the region. Within just a few decades, entire towns sprang up to serve the burgeoning mining industry, fences were strung to restrict public access, and vast tracts of land were stripped by heavy machinery to extract the diamonds that lay below. Yet, in less than a century, the major deposits of this finite resource were largely exhausted, leading to the closure or significant downsizing of mining operations.

Security booms have since been lifted, and the once guarded towns are now open to the public. The departure of the large mining companies has been followed by an influx of informal miners, drawn by the possibility of finding the few diamonds that remain. But this new wave of prospectors carries a sense of desperation. The harsh environment and the loss of the economic support once provided by industrial mining leave little hope for meaningful rejuvenation.

The scarred land itself arguably pays the greatest price. Stripped of its protective scrub, the topsoil is being carried away by the strong prevailing winds, leaving the landscape even more barren than before.