The Sunday Mail
Tinashe Farawo
President Mugabe has authorised the Zimbabwe Consolidated Diamond Company to take up more land in Chiadzwa to expand production. ZCDC presently operates two concessions formerly of Marange Resources and Diamond Mining Company as others are being contested in court. Special grants signed by President Mugabe enable the State enterprise to mine a vast portion of the 120 000-hectare Chiadzwa diamond fields, and another expanse stretching from that district to the Zimbabwe-Mozambique border. Those reserves also feed into the 10 000-square kilometre Umkondo Basin that runs from Manicaland to Masvingo and is almost the size of Swaziland.
The basin’s potential was first noted by mining giant De Beers in the 1980s as the company searched for kimberlitic pipes in the Beitbridge region linking Manicaland and a diamond belt stretching from Namibia and Botswana.
However, De Beers concealed key information from Government after discovering several pipes and it was only in 2014 that authorities began mobilising exploration funds.
Mines and Mining Development Minister Walter Chidhakwa told The Sunday Mail, “We have given ZCDC special grants to mine diamonds in that whole area right up to the border. We have taken the entire route along Save River … the Mozambicans are doing the same on their side.
“Globally, diamonds are a preserve of the state; so why are we the exception? We have already said diamond mining is for the State in the interest of the majority Zimbabweans. At present, we are mining two concessions as the other concessions are being contested before the courts. However, we are happy with progress. We knew we were going to encounter challenges, but would overcome them. We have absolutely nothing to show for our diamonds despite years of mining the resource, hence, as Government, we have set out to put a stop to that. Companies (that were operating there) were reluctant to be part of the new order and we were left with no option but to divorce.”
Early this year, Government – through ZCDC — took full control of the Chiadzwa diamond fields after companies operating there allegedly failed to increase output and declare taxes, and rejected amalgamation.
The takeover, authorities said, would improve accountability and transparency. In Botswana, the world’s top diamond producer by value, the government and De Beers mine diamonds jointly as Debswana. This has yielded massive benefits, with Botswana recently establishing Okavango Diamond Trading Company to market, purchase and sell Debswana’s stones.
Okavango will soon auction diamonds worth between US$300 million and US$350 million on the open market. Debswana operates four diamond mines, and analysts say that model ensures accountability and benefits the majority.
Further, it has a state-of-the-art diamond sorting, valuing and selling centre with capacity to polish 45 million carats yearly — which is 40 percent of the world’s diamonds. The company accounts for about US$6 billion rough diamonds annually.
