De Beers taking Minerals Minister to court over bewildering diamond export obfuscation

(miningweekly.com) - The South African government is refusing to grant an exemption to diamond mining company De Beers Consolidated Mines (DBCM) relating to the exportation of diamonds to neighbouring Botswana for aggregation, Mining Weekly Online can today report. Aggregation is the process of mixing like-for-like rough diamonds from mines in South Africa, Botswana, Namibia and Canada and sustaining the South African diamond cutting and polishing industry and jobs in the process. Up to now, DBCM has received exemption yearly because once the aggregation process is complete, rough diamonds of higher value are re-imported back into South Africa for cutting and polishing, a diamond beneficiation exercise that provides jobs and adds value. But Minerals Minister Mosebenzi Zwane has denied De Beers an exemption to enable this, despite the company exceeding all the legislated criteria for its 2017/18 levy exemption application and having a track record of never missing an exemption since its enactment in 2008. As a consequence, De Beers RSA has approached the Pretoria High Court to set aside the Minister’s decision.