Petra Diamonds is expected to resume operations at its Williamson mine, in Tanzania in the first quarter of 2022, according to the local media.
The Citizen quoted Petra chief executive Richard Duffy as saying plans are being refined to allow operations at Williamson mine to resume.
The resumption, he said, was expected to contribute between 220,000 and 270,000 carats of diamonds to the group's output in 2022.
Problems in Tanzania arose after the government blocked Petra’s parcel of 71,654.45 carats that had been packaged for export on August 31, 2017.
Tanzania claimed that the blocked diamonds were worth $29.5 million at the time, but Petra had under-declared the stones for export.
However, Petra said it was not responsible for the provisional evaluation of the stones.
The Williamson mine had been on care and maintenance throughout the fiscal year 2021.
A report by Rights and Accountability in Development detailing cases of at least seven deaths and 41 assaults by security personnel at the Williamson Mine in Mwadui also brought problems for Petra.
The company has since agreed to pay more than $1.3 million into an escrow account to fund restorative community programmes.
Mathew Nyaungwa, Editor in Chief of the African Bureau, Rough&Polished
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