1
 Early this century, diamond mining in the magnificent dunes 
5001
span

2
where the Namib Desert meets the Atlantic Ocean 
1
elaboration-object-attribute-e

3
was a day at the beach.
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Same-Unit

4
 Men would crawl in the sand 
5004
span

5
looking for shiny stones. 
4
purpose

6
It was as easy 
5006
Comparison

7
as collecting sea shells at Malibu.
5006
Comparison

8
 Men are still combing the beach with shovels and hand brushes, 
5008
span

9
searching for that unusual glint.
8
purpose

10
 But only after a fleet of 336 gargantuan earthmoving vehicles 
5010
span

11
belonging to De Beers Consolidated Mines Ltd., the world's diamond kingpins,
10
elaboration-object-attribute-e

12
 do their work.
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Same-Unit

13
 Last year, 43 million tons of desert were moved from one dune to another 
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span

14
to recover 934,242 carats,
13
purpose

15
 which comes to 46 tons of sand per carat, or one-fifth gram.
5013
interpretation-s

16
 Oh yes, the Atlantic was also pushed back 300 yards.
5014
comment

17
 If there's diamonds out there, 
18
contingency

18
we'll get to them, 
5017
span

19
says Les Johns, De Beers's engineering manager.
5017
attribution

20
 Here, 
5021
Same-Unit

21
wedged between shifting dunes and pounding waves at the world's most inhospitable diamond dig, 
22
elaboration-additional-e

22
lies the earth's most precious jewel box.
5020
span

23
 Thanks to centuries of polishing by Mother Nature 
5022
span

24
-- first in the gentle current of the Orange River 
5023
span

25
that carried the stones from South Africa's interior, 
24
elaboration-additional-e

26
then in the cold surf of the ocean, and finally in the coarse sands of the desert -- 
5024
Same-Unit

27
98% of the diamonds uncovered are of gem quality. 
5025
span

28
While other mines might yield more carats,
29
concession

29
 a higher percentage of them go to industrial use.
5028
span

30
 Since this treasure chest is too big 
5029
span

31
to fit in a bank vault,
30
consequence-s

32
 it has been turned into one.
5030
Reason

33
 Months after railway worker Zacharias Lewala first picked up a diamond from the sand in 1908, 
5033
circumstance

34
the German colonialists 
5032
span

35
who controlled Namibia 
34
elaboration-object-attribute-e

36
proclaimed a wide swath of the desert 
5034
span

37
-- about 200 miles north from the Orange River and 60 miles inland from the Atlantic -- 
36
elaboration-additional-e

38
a restricted area, a designation normally reserved for military operations. 
5033
Same-Unit

39
When the Germans lost World War I, 
40
circumstance

40
they lost Namibia to South Africa and the diamonds to Ernest Oppenheimer, patriarch of Anglo American Corp. and De Beers.
5036
span

41
 Today, no one gets in or out of the restricted area
5038
span

42
 without De Beers's stingy approval.
41
contingency

43
 The mining zone has thus remained one of the most desolate places in Africa.
5040
span

44
 Ghost towns dot the Namib dunes, 
5041
Consequence

45
proving diamonds aren't forever. 
5041
Consequence

46
Oranjemund, the mine headquarters, is a lonely corporate oasis of 9,000 residents.
5045
List

47
 Jackals roam the streets at night,
5043
List

48
 and gemsbok, hardy antelope with long straight horns, wander in from the desert 
5044
span

49
to drink from water sprinklers.
48
purpose

50
 On most days, the desert's heat and the cool of the ocean combine 
5046
Cause-Result

51
to create a mist like a damp rag.
5046
Cause-Result

52
 The wind,
5110
span

53
 stinging with sand,
52
elaboration-additional-e

54
 never seems to stop. 
5047
span

55
 Still, miners from all parts of Namibia as well as professional staff from De Beers's head offices in South Africa and London keep coming.
5049
span

56
 And Oranjemund boasts attractions besides diamonds.
5050
span

57
 There are six video rental shops, three restaurants, one cinema and 34 sports and recreation clubs for everything from cricket to lawn bowling.
5051
span

58
 The pride of Oranjemund is the 18-hole golf course 
5052
span

59
-- with the largest sand trap in the world.
58
elaboration-part-whole-e

60
 Last year, 
5057
span

61
when the rising Orange River threatened to swamp the course, 
60
circumstance-e

62
the same engineers 
5054
span

63
who are pushing back the Atlantic
62
elaboration-object-attribute-e

64
 rushed to build a wall 
5058
span

65
to hold back the flood. 
64
purpose

66
Nothing is too good for our golf course, 
5060
span

67
says Tony George, a mining engineer.
66
attribution

68
 Despite fears 
5061
span

69
the mine may be partially nationalized by the new Namibian government
5062
span

70
 following next month's elections 
69
circumstance

71
freeing the country from South African control,
5062
consequence-s

72
 De Beers engineers are working 
5065
span

73
to extend the mine's productive life for another 25 years, from the current estimate of 10. 
72
purpose

74
 Huge machines 
5067
span

75
that look as though they came from the Star Wars desert-battle scene 
74
elaboration-additional-e

76
lumber among the dunes.
5068
Same-Unit

77
 Mechanized vacuum cleaners probe the sand like giant anteaters; 
5069
List

78
a whirring ferris wheellike excavator, with buckets instead of seats, chews through layers of compacted sand; 
5069
List

79
tracks and conveyor belts,
5071
Same-Unit

80
 shuttling sand to the screening plants,
81
temporal-same-time

81
 criss-cross the beach.
5070
span

82
 Then there is the artifical sea wall, 600 yards long and 60 yards thick, 
5072
span

83
jutting into the ocean. 
82
elaboration-additional-e

84
Made of sand,
85
elaboration-additional-e

85
 it receives around-the-clock maintainence against the battering waves.
5073
span

86
 When the mining in front of the wall is complete, 
87
circumstance

87
it is moved northward. 
5076
span

88
A companion jetty 
5078
span

89
that helps hold back the sea 
88
elaboration-additional-e

90
looks like a rusting junkyard.
5079
Same-Unit

91
 Engineers first used concrete blocks 
5081
span

92
to bolster the barrier, 
91
purpose

93
but the ocean tossed them aside like driftwood. 
5082
span

94
Then someone decided to try broken-down earthmoving equipment 
5084
span

95
that, inexplicably, held against the waves.
94
elaboration-object-attribute-e

96
 The Caterpillar people aren't too happy 
5086
span

97
when they see their equipment used like that, 
96
circumstance

98
shrugs Mr. George.
5086
attribution

99
 They figure 
100
attribution

100
it's not a very good advert.
5089
span

101
 Despite all these innovations, 
5091
concession

102
most of the diamonds are still found in the sand 
5091
span

103
swept away by the men wielding shovels and brushes 
5092
span

104
-- the ignominiously named bedrock sweepers 
5093
span

105
who toil in the wake of the excavators.
104
elaboration-object-attribute-e

106
 Laboring in blue and gray overalls, 
5095
span

107
they are supposed to concentrate on cleaning out crevices,
5096
Contrast

108
 and not strain their eyes 
5097
span

109
looking for diamonds. 
108
means

110
But 
5100
Same-Unit

111
should they spy one, 
112
condition-e

112
the company will pay a bonus equal to one-third its value.
5111
span

113
 For these workers at the bottom of the mine's pay scale, this is usually enough 
5102
span

114
to overcome the temptation 
5103
span

115
to steal 
5104
span

116
-- a crime 
5105
span

117
that could earn them up to 15 years in jail. 
116
elaboration-additional-e

118
 Still, employees do occasionally try to smuggle out a gem or two.
5107
span

119
 One man wrapped several diamonds in the knot of his tie.
5108
List

120
 Another poked a hole in the heel of his shoe.
5108
List

121
 A food caterer stashed stones in the false bottom of a milk pail.
5108
List

122
 None made it past the body searches and X-rays of mine security.
5108
elaboration-additional

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Same-Unit

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multinuc
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span

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span
5012
background

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span
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List

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multinuc
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explanation-argumentative

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multinuc
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List

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span
5019
Topic-Drift

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span
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concession

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span
5012
span

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span
5011
Same-Unit

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multinuc
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span

5012
span
5007
span

5013
span
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span

5014
span
5015
span

5015
span
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span

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span
5009
background

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span
5018
span

5018
span
5015
elaboration-additional

5019
multinuc



5020
span
5021
Same-Unit

5021
multinuc
5026
span

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span
27
background

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span
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Same-Unit

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multinuc
23
elaboration-additional

5025
span
5027
List

5026
span
5019
Topic-Drift

5027
multinuc
5021
explanation-argumentative

5028
span
5027
List

5029
span
5030
Reason

5030
multinuc
5027
List

5031
span
5036
background

5032
span
5033
Same-Unit

5033
multinuc
5031
span

5034
span
5033
Same-Unit

5035
span
5039
background

5036
span
5035
span

5037
span
5042
span

5038
span
5039
Consequence

5039
multinuc
5037
span

5040
span
5039
Consequence

5041
multinuc
43
explanation-argumentative

5042
span
55
concession

5043
multinuc
5045
List

5044
span
5043
List

5045
multinuc
5037
elaboration-additional

5046
multinuc
5045
List

5047
span
5048
Same-Unit

5048
multinuc
5045
List

5049
span
5019
Topic-Drift

5050
span
5019
Topic-Drift

5051
span
56
explanation-argumentative

5052
span
5053
span

5053
span
57
elaboration-general-specific

5054
span
5055
span

5055
span
5056
Same-Unit

5056
multinuc
5059
span

5057
span
5056
Same-Unit

5058
span
5056
Same-Unit

5059
span
5052
explanation-argumentative

5060
span
5056
explanation-argumentative

5061
span
5066
concession

5062
span
5063
span

5063
span
68
elaboration-object-attribute-e

5064
span
5019
Topic-Drift

5065
span
5066
span

5066
span
5064
span

5067
span
5068
Same-Unit

5068
multinuc
5069
List

5069
multinuc
5065
elaboration-additional

5070
span
5071
Same-Unit

5071
multinuc
5069
List

5072
span
5074
span

5073
span
5075
span

5074
span
5077
span

5075
span
5072
elaboration-additional

5076
span
5073
elaboration-additional

5077
span
5069
List

5078
span
5079
Same-Unit

5079
multinuc
5080
span

5080
span
5074
elaboration-additional

5081
span
93
concession

5082
span
5083
Sequence

5083
multinuc
5079
elaboration-additional

5084
span
5085
span

5085
span
5083
Sequence

5086
span
5087
span

5087
span
5088
span

5088
span
5084
evaluation-s

5089
span
5087
explanation-argumentative

5090
span
5019
Topic-Drift

5091
span
5090
span

5092
span
5094
span

5093
span
103
elaboration-object-attribute-e

5094
span
5101
span

5095
span
5100
concession

5096
multinuc
106
elaboration-additional-e

5097
span
5096
Contrast

5098
span
5092
elaboration-additional

5099
span



5100
multinuc
5098
span

5101
span
102
elaboration-object-attribute-e

5102
span
5107
concession

5103
span
113
elaboration-object-attribute-e

5104
span
114
elaboration-object-attribute-e

5105
span
115
elaboration-object-attribute-e

5106
span
5094
elaboration-additional

5107
span
5106
span

5108
multinuc
5109
span

5109
span
118
example

5110
span
5048
Same-Unit

5111
span
5100
Same-Unit

