The Sunday Mail
Africa Moyo —
ZIMBABWE expects to produce more than 1,2 million diamond carats by the end of the year from the two mines that are presently operated by the Zimbabwe Consolidated Diamond Company (ZCDC) in Chiadzwa. The figure represents an 80 percent drop from the targeted output of six million carats for 2016 and a 45 percent decline from 2,2 million carats that had been produced by the third quarter of 2015.
However, the resolution of court cases involving three diamond mines that are contesting the non-renewal of their operating licences is expected soon. On February 22 this year, Government ordered seven mining companies — Mbada Diamonds, Anjin Investments, Marange Resources, Diamond Mining Company, Kusena Diamonds, Jinan and Gye Nyame to stop operating as their special grants had expired.
ZCDC was subsequently formed, and it has managed to rope in Marange Diamonds, a special purpose vehicle of the Zimbabwe Mining Development Corporation (ZMDC), a parastatal and a private firm, Diamond Mining Corporation (DMC). Since March production volumes have been declining, from 218 274 carats in March to 120 686 carats in May and 58 396 carats in June.
For the first six months to June 2016, ZCDC produced 972 765 carats due to lack of adequate working capital and the reluctance of previous companies to merge into the newly formed entity. Mines and Mining Development Minister Walter Chidhakwa told The Sunday Mail Business that the 99 000 carats that were produced in September will be auctioned soon.
“At the moment, in particular last month, we have done about 99 000 carats from the two mining locations that used to be Marange and DMC, they are the ones going for auctioning.
“So, if you say we are operating with those two (mines), you can multiply that by 12 (months) and we get about 1,2 million carats.
But that is why I don’t want to project the output before we know the outcome of what is happening in the courts,” said Minister Chidhakwa.
Government feels that the speedy resolution of the court challenge will directly impact on output and the overall contribution of the precious stones to the economy. Revenues from diamond mining, which topped US$80 million in 2014, declined to US$23 million last year.
An estimated US$23 million was also earned between March and August this year, according to statistics from the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe. Conversely, gold is generating between US$13 million and US$15 million every week. However, production is expected to increase once ZCDC purchases new modern equipment.
