Zimbabwe produced 8.67 million carats of diamonds in 2011 of which 7.15 million carats were exported to several countries including the United Arab Emirates, South Africa, Israel and Belgium.
The diamonds were produced by Rio Tinto’s Murowa, Limpopo Mineral Resources (formerly River Ranch), Mbada, Marange Resources, Anjin, DMC and DTZ-OZGEO.
“The year 2011 remained a difficult year for rough diamond exports from Zimbabwe due to protracted restrictions on exports produced from the Marange area, leading to the cancellation of many certificates,” reads part of the report.
The report also noted that although there was an administrative decision last November that allowed Zimbabwe to export rough diamonds from Marange, the process still remained constrained by sanctions imposed on the country by some KP participant states.
The sanctions were imposed following reports of smuggling from the Marange diamond fields and accusations of human rights abuses by President Robert Mugabe’s ZANU PF party.
The report said that 99 people were arrested for illegal diamond possession in the country last year resulting in the recovery of 1205.56 carats.
Mathew Nyaungwa, Editor in Chief of the African Bureau, Rough&Polished
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