Ghana sets up diamond cutting, polishing plant

Ghana’s Precious Minerals Marketing Company (PMMC) has opened a new diamond cutting and polishing plant to add value to the West African country’s rough gems.
Local media quoted the company chairman Kwabena Kyere as saying that the $480,000 facility had a capacity to cut and polish 1,750 carats of rough diamonds.
It was, however, unclear whether this capacity was on monthly or annual basis.
 “We will ensure that we optimize production as quickly as possible so that we can expand and employee 400 people,” he said.
“The vision is for this plant to be a production facility that delivers polished diamonds at the (sic) highest quality with equally good financial returns in order to keep up with all its statutory obligations including payments of dividends to government.”
PMMC had exported 13.6 million carats of rough diamonds since 1989 valued at $370 million in addition to the production and sale of sterling jewellery products, The Daily Guide reports.
Minister of Lands and Natural Resources Mike Allen Hammah was also quoted as saying that the export figures showed that PMMC had lost a lot of revenue over the years it concentrated on selling rough gems.
“The economic gains to the nation would have been larger if value was added to the minerals for use in the local jewellery industry and for export,” he said.
Ghana produces an average of 500,000 carats of diamonds from alluvial deposits per annum.

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