Zim to auction Marange diamonds in China, UAE

Zimbabwe is expected to start auctioning Marange diamonds in China and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) as it seeks to maximise revenue from the gems.
Finance minister Patrick Chinamasa said that the country had already commenced trial auctions in the two countries.
"We have already started and this is just a trial to sell it through Antwerp (Belgium). We are studying those results and we are also intending to sell through the Shanghai Diamond Exchange,” he was quoted by state media as saying.
"We are also going to do it through the Dubai Diamond Exchange. All this is to discover the true value of our diamonds."
Zimbabwe also got a green-light from the European Union to auction its diamonds in Antwerp last year.
A trial auction of 300,000 carats held last December fetched $10,5 million and a huge sale would also be convened this month in Antwerp.
Chinamasa said Harare was working on boosting transparency in the local diamond industry, which had previously been shrouded in secrecy amid allegations of revenue pillaging.
"Since we came, we are trying to demystify diamonds. We would want all the information to be on the table so that we can speak on this subject more intelligently,” he said.
"Where in the past this information was not brought on the table, the rumour-mongering took over. So we want to bring it on the table and we are going to do it.”
Chinamasa said more exploration was needed to find the extent of diamond reserves in the country.
"In respect of diamonds, we now need exploration into Kimberlite and conglomerates. The resources for that exercise are being mobilised so that we have geological surveys to be done to determine where the Kimberlite are and where the conglomerates are. The general inspection shows that they are there,” he said.
"So it is a matter of identifying precisely where they are and also to mobilise more resources and better equipment in order to mine them."
Meanwhile, Zimbabwe mines minister said companies that are currently operating in Marange would not get new claims once they exhaust their current claims.
“What we intend to do is not to renew our relationship with companies beyond our agreements on the existing concessions. But we must allow the joint venture agreements to live up to the end of the life of the mine as contained in the agreements,” he told Parliament last week.  “Consolidation is something that we are considering because we realised that not many companies actually have got the financial resources to do underground mining that gets us perhaps to the better diamonds.”
Seven companies were licensed to mine diamonds in Chiadzwa and these are: Mbada Diamonds, Marange Resources, Anjin Investments, Diamond Mining Company, Jinan, Kusena and Gye Nyame.

Mathew Nyaungwa, Editor in Chief of the African Bureau, Rough&Polished from Cape Town, South Africa