State-owned Zimbabwe Consolidated Diamond Company (ZCDC)'s future is uncertain due to the loss of lucrative concessions and government interference, according to a local weekly.
The Zimbabwe Independent newspaper reports that ZCDC's viability was weakened after Anjin Investments grabbed its most productive concession in the Marange diamond fields.
Anjin was said to be a 50-50 partnership between the Chinese Anhui Foreign Economic Construction and the Zimbabwe Defense Industries through its investment vehicle called Matt Bronze.
The company's outgoing general manager, Shingi Manyeruke confirmed to the newspaper that Anjin took over the diamond-rich Portal B from ZCDC.
Previous investigations showed that ZCDC had stopped operations in four of its concessions and abandoned three of the four sites where it was exploring for diamonds.
ZCDC's operations are currently limited to Portal A in Marange and Portal E in Chimanimani.
Portal E was said to be under mineral resource evaluation.
ZCDC's new chief executive Mark Mabhudhu was not helpful when contacted by the weekly for further information on the imminent collapse of the company.
"As you would know, this is very confidential information that you are requesting to publish, which requires certain approvals as appropriate to be released," he was quoted as saying.
Anjin and several other companies were barred from Marange in 2016 by the then government of the late Robert Mugabe for allegedly failing to remit diamond revenue to the treasury.
This led to the establishment of the state-owned Zimbabwe Diamond Consolidated Company (ZCDC).
Anjin was, however, allowed to return to Marange in 2019 by the new administration of President Emmerson Mnangagwa.
Mathew Nyaungwa, Editor in Chief of the African Bureau, Rough&Polished
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