Unidentified stones that lured thousands of fortune seekers to a rural South African village were not diamonds as hoped, officials said on Sunday, but quartz stones with relatively low if any value.

People from across South Africa travelled to KwaHlathi in eastern KwaZulu-Natal province where villagers had been digging with picks and shovels since 12 June after a herder discovered the first stone in an open field and put out the word.

The provincial executive council member for economic development and tourism, Ravi Pillay, said on Sunday he had counted about 3,000 people there during a visit to the site, where samples were taken to identify the stones.