Zim legislators call for more Marange licences

Zimbabwe’s Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Mines and Energy said the government should allocate more concessions in the Marange diamond fields.
Committee chairperson Edward Chindori-Chininga was quoted by a local daily, Newsday as saying that the creation of new diamond mining operations would usher-in social and economic development.
“The parcelling out of concessions should be done in conjunction with further exploration, to enable the government to negotiate contracts from an informed position,” he said.
DMC, Mbada, Marange Resources and Anjin were the only companies currently operating in Marange, according to officials reports.
Meanwhile, Chindori-Chininga decried the truncated revenue inflows from Marange diamond sales.
“About $563 million worth of diamonds were exported [this year] and only $43 million in diamond dividend revenue was remitted to Treasury,” he said.
“The committee also noted with concern that the Minister of Finance (Tendai Biti in his Budget statement) did not mention any revenues from the 10 percent royalties that is supposed to be automatically remitted to Treasury from diamond proceeds.
“The committee would like to know how much of the $563 million worth of diamonds export was paid as royalties to national Treasury.”
He said his committee had observed that the mines ministry was undecided on whether to introduce a Diamond Bill or to amend the Precious Stones Trade Act to accommodate the challenges rocking the diamond sector.
“As a result, in order to circumvent this challenge diamond proceeds are not channelled through the formal procedures,” Chindori-Chininga said. “In the process this creates loopholes for theft and loss of revenue to the fiscus.”

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