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Zimbabwe halts diamond firms' operations

Xinhua, February 22, 2016 Adjust font size:

The Zimbabwean government on Monday ordered all diamond mining firms in Marange region, the country's main diamond fields, to cease operations immediately citing the expiration of their licenses.

This comes after the miners declined government proposals to consolidate operations and form one mining entity in which the state will have a 50 percent stake.

The new state-owned Zimbabwe Consolidated Diamond Company now holds all the diamond claims in the country, the government says.

"Since they no longer hold any titles, these companies were notified this morning to cease all mining activities with immediate effect," Walter Chidhakwa told reporters and executives from the affected mines.

There are six mining firms in the vast Marange diamond fields first discovered in 2006 and believed to hold 25 percent of world's diamond reserves.

These are Anjin Investments, Diamond Mining Company, Jinan, Kusena, Marange Resources and Mbada Diamonds. The government holds 50 percent shareholding in all the firms.

Panners initially descended on the fields but were later driven off by government, paving way for commercial mining which began in 2010.

The firms have of late been complaining about dwindling alluvial diamond deposits in the Marange fields in eastern Zimbabwe. Enditem