Lesetho grants amnesty to unlicenced small-scale diamond miners

Lesotho has appealed to unlicenced artisanal diamond miners to hand in their stockpile to the authorities before it starts issuing licences for small scale miners, according to local media.
Lesotho Times quoted commissioner of mines Pheello Tjatja as saying that there will be an amnesty to all persons currently holding diamonds illegally, but want to sell them with government’s assistance.
"We want to avoid false declarations of diamonds when small-scale miners eventually begin operations," he said.
"Failure to clear these diamonds could put us at the risk of being misinformed about the actual productivity of small-scale mining operations, which would negatively affect how they are developed going forward."
Tjatja said the mines ministry's legal team was developing the regulations that would guide the procedures that the dealers must follow in handing in their diamonds.
Meanwhile, the chairperson of the Lesotho Diamonds Association, Michael Molefe, has welcomed the move after local diamonds miners struggled for years to get recognition they deserved.
Currently, diamond mining is limited to large foreign investors and government has minority shareholding in these foreign owned diamond mines.
"This is a positive move that we have been awaiting for a long time. This can only be good for the country as allowing locals to enter the mining industry will create significant jobs and increase revenue generation for the government," said Molefe.

Mathew Nyaungwa, Editor in Chief of the African Bureau, Rough&Polished