Zimbabwe Mining Development Corporation (ZMDC) has taken over Sino-Zimbabwe operations at Marange diamond fields after its Chinese partners pulled out of the venture.
The Chinese investors exited the joint venture last May saying the concession had no meaningful diamond resources to operate a viable mine.
The Herald newspaper quoted ZMDC chairman Godwills Masimirembwa as saying that the parastatal was convinced that the claim allocated to Sino-Zimbabwe was “rich” in diamonds.
"The day to day management and operations of Sino-Zimbabwe have been taken over by the ZMDC. Right now we are in the process of recruiting personnel. Exploration is also in progress," said Masimirembwa.
"As we have mentioned in the past, we are convinced that the concession is rich in diamonds."
He said Sino-Zimbabwe could have found the going tough as it was “looking strictly for alluvial diamonds yet the concession has conglomerates”.
Masimirembwa said conglomerates were diamonds embedded in rocks, which meant a lot of capital was needed to mine them.
Mathew Nyaungwa, Editor in Chief of the African Bureau, Rough&Polished
