'Zim still has diamonds'

Published: 31 January 2014

Mines and Mining Development minister Walter Chidhakwa yesterday said Zimbabwe still had diamonds, but will not issue new claims to mining firms that only wanted to rely on alluvial gems in Marange.

Chidhakwa was responding to a question by MDC-T Midlands senator Morgan Komichi who wanted him to explain to Senate if it was true that Zimbabwe had run out of diamonds.

Responding to Senators during questions without notice session, Minister Chidhakwa said it was no longer business as usual for diamond mining firms in Marange as the State wanted the gems to transform livelihoods.

"What we intend to do is not to renew our relationship with companies beyond our agreements on the existing concessions. But we must allow the joint venture agreements to live up to the end of the life of the mine as contained in the agreements. Consolidation is something that we are considering because we realised that not many companies actually have got the financial resources to do underground mining that gets us perhaps to the better diamonds," he said.

"Consolidation from our point of view is a policy that we are developing. We are working on why we should go that route. We are evaluating the performance of the structure that we have had to date to see what its weaknesses are. We are hoping that going into the future, we must have a structure in the diamonds sector that is consistent with the problems that are facing us."

He said the claims had come from some firms in Marange who did not want to explore and invest on earth-crashing machinery to find diamonds, but preferred easy mining like in the case of alluvial diamonds.

Meanwhile, the second tender of run-of-mine diamonds from the Marange area of Zimbabwe will be held in Antwerp next month, said First Element which is organising the event.

The tender will be substantially larger than the previous sale held in December 2013, the firm announced.

The tender will run from February 12 to 21, including weekends, at the Antwerp Diamond Tender Facility at the Antwerp World Diamond Centre offices from 9.30am to 8pm each day.

The tender will close on February 21 at 3pm.

The tender will feature production from Diamond Mining Company, Jinan Investments, Anjin Investments, Marange Resources, DTZ and Mbada Diamonds.

The first tender of diamonds from the Marange area held in Antwerp in December generated sales of $10,7 million, which the organisers said was in line with expectations in view of the composition of the parcels.

It was the first tender held in Antwerp since the European Union lifted sanctions against the Zimbabwe Mining Development Corporation (ZMDC), in September following high-level meetings between Zimbabwean officials and the Antwerp World Diamond Centre.

Meanwhile, it is expected that India's Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma will be visiting Zimbabwe in the first week of February to finalise a long term agreement with Zimbabwe on the supply of rough diamonds and the setting up of a diamond cutting and polishing institute in the country.

This follows a visit to India by the Minister of Industry and Commerce Joey Bimha to India earlier this week for the Partnership Summit 2014.
- newsday-herald

Tags: Diamonds,