John Williamson (geologist)

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Dr. John Thornburn Williamson (1907-1958) was a Canadian geologist famous for establishing the Williamson diamond mine in present-day Tanzania.

Williamson was born in 1907 in Montfort, Quebec. He attended McGill University, where he initially intended to study law, but became interested in geology after accompanying a friend on a field expedition. He subsequently earned bachelor's, master's, and PhD degrees in geology, completing his studies in 1933.

After completing his studies, Williamson traveled to South Africa with one of his professors, where he eventually took a job with Loangwa Concessions, a De Beers subsidiary in what was then Northern Rhodesia (now Zambia). He then moved on to work at the Mabuki diamond mine, which he purchased from the owners in 1936 when they had decided to shut the mine down. Williamson struggled to support himself with the operations of the Mabuki mine, while using it as a base for diamond prospecting in the region. In 1940, he discovered the diamond-bearing kimberlite pipe at Mwadui that he would develop over the coming years into the Williamson diamond mine.

The diamond mine at Mwadui was closely managed by Williamson, who by the 1950s had developed a diamond mining operation renowned for its efficiency and technological innovations. Production of the mine, which Williamson owned in full, made him one of the richest men in the world by the time of his death in 1958 of cancer. The mine, famous for being the first significant diamond mine outside of South Africa, continues to operate today, and has produced over 19 million carats (3,800 kg) of diamonds.

John Williamson was never married; upon his death the mine was left to his three siblings, who promptly sold the mine for £4 million GBP to a partnership between De Beers and the government of Tanzania (then Tanganyika).

The life of John Williamson was adapted into the biographical novel The Diamond Seeker by John Gawaine (a pen name), which was published in 1967. The book depicts Williamson as quiet to the point of secretive, and something of a womanizer. However, it also hails him as the last of the great diamond prospectors, who were able to find meaningful deposits and establish significant, successful mines without outside resources or support. While the book is known to have taken some liberties with the facts, it is one of the few biographical sources available.