George Labram

George Frederick Labram
Labram leaning on Long Cecil
Born	1859 Detroit, United States
Died	1900-02-09 Grand Hotel, Kimberley, Cape Colony
Cause of death	Shrapnel from artillery shell
Resting place	Gladstone cemetery, Kimberley
Occupation	Engineer
Employer	De Beers
Known for	Construction of Long Cecil gun during the Siege of Kimberley Invention of new diamond mining techniques

George Labram was an American engineer employed as Chief Mechanical Engineer at the De Beers diamond mines in Kimberley during the Siege of Kimberley.

Labram was born in Detroit, Michigan in 1859, but attended school at the Quincy Mine after his parents moved there around 1864.

Labram started his working career at Samuel F. Hodge & Company in Detroit before moving to Chicago where he first worked at the MC Bullock Manufacturing Company and later at Fraser & Chalmers. From Chicago Labram moved to the Silver King Mine in Arizona and then became mechanical engineer on a smelter for Anaconda Copper. Following that Labram worked at Boston and Montana Consolidated Copper and Silver Mining Company for a short period before moving to the Butte and Boston Consolidated Mining Company where he worked for about a year as engineer in charge of machinery before moving to Dakota to erect a tin mill. At the World's Columbian Exposition in 1893 Labram ran a machinery exhibition.

In 1893 Labram was employed by the De Beers company in Kimberley to build and manage a crushing mill. In 1898 he was promoted to chief engineer. Under Labram's supervision as manager of the crushing plant, Fred Kirsten devised an automated diamond extraction process. Up to that time all diamonds were manually extracted by sight.

Labram assisted Major General Robert George Kekewich in preparing Kimberley's defenses prior to the siege; including the construction of a 155-foot (47 m) watch tower, search lights and a telephone system.

Labram installed an emergency fresh-water supply system for the town and designed a bulk refrigeration plant for perishable foodstuffs, specifically for the storage of meat from cattle that had to be slaughtered as they could no longer be let out for grazing.