ZCDC needs seasoned diamond miner as JV partner

(The New Zimbabwe) - Although Zimbabwe has been involved in diamond mining through Murowa Diamonds as well as the mothballed River Ranch, it was the discovery of Marange diamond fields – more than a decade ago – which attracted a lot of global attention, much of it for the wrong reasons. A host of companies – some of them with no previous diamond mining experience – were awarded licences to mine the vast diamond fields. The companies were later accused of siphoning revenue from Marange, while some non-governmental organisations such as Global Witness placed the blame on Harare’s doorstep. However, the government refuted the claims. The Kimberley Process (KP), the global diamond watchdog, had to impose restrictions on the trading of the country’s stones in 2009. However, Harare complied with KP’s minimum requirements and it was allowed to export Marange diamonds in November 2011. Meanwhile, President Robert Mugabe alleged last year that of the $15 billion realised since the start of mining in Marange, only $2 billion was channeled to the Treasury, while the rest was unaccounted for. Harare then established the Zimbabwe Consolidated Diamond Company (ZCDC) to promote “transparency and stop smuggling”. The government thought that the erstwhile Marange diamond companies would merge their operations and establish a joint venture with the new state-owned entity. They, however, spurned the offer and some of them went to court challenging Harare’s decision to drive them out of their claims. As I write this piece, ZCDC was mining diamonds in Marange without any joint venture partner. Former finance minister Patrick Chinamasa said last July that ZCDC’s “diamonds output during the first half of 2017 was 1,1 million carats against 690,000 carats produced during the previous year". However, data released by KP earlier this year indicated that the country produced 2,1 million carats in 2016 worth $105 million, which contradicted Harare’s figures. Whatever, ZCDC produced last year, there was no doubt that it would do much better with a seasoned diamond miner as its joint venture partner. Here I refer to a company with a traceable history of diamond mining, let alone the skills and resources. Although there are several good junior and mid-tier diamond companies, three companies, with a global reach, come to mind and these are Rio Tinto, De Beers and Russia’s Alrosa.