More Marange drama …ACR threatens international litigation

Marange has courted negative international media since the Zimbabwe

government controversially kicked out the United Kingdom-registered

miner from the area soon after the discovery of diamonds in 2006.

ACR is locked in a long-running legal battle to regain control of the

Marange fields also known as

Chiadzwa from the government-run Zimbabwe Mining Development

Corporation which has already parcelled out ACR claims to two South

African-linked companies.

ACR chief executive Andrew Cranswick told shareholders that the

British-based firm had not wavered from its willingness to compromise

and settle the issue without further litigation but said it would be

left with no choice but to seek international litigation if current

initiatives collapsed.

ACR has striven towards a responsible and ethical approach with the

ever-present threat of international litigation a course of last

resort but one in which our rights remain entirely reserved,

Cranswick said in the companys annual report released last Wednesday.

He said Zimbabwes diamond industry as a whole had suffered from this

ordeal and called on the countrys leaders to recognise the

reputational importance of legitimacy, the respect for law, rights and

ethics without which a consumer revolt against this product seems as

inevitable as it would be disastrous for all involved.

Zimbabwes Mines Minister Obert Mpofu in March declared that the

London-based mining firm

controlled by one white man would never mine diamonds at Marange

as long as he was in charge of the ministry.

Mpofu accused Cranswick of leading a campaign to block Zimbabwes bid

to officially sell diamonds from Chiadzwa.

Chiadzwa is one of the worlds most controversial diamond fields with

reports that soldiers sent to guard the claims after the government

took over the field in October 2006 from ACR committed gross human

rights abuses against illegal miners who had descended on the field.

International rights groups have been pushing for a ban on Zimbabwean

diamonds but the country was last month given the nod by the industry

watchdog Kimberley Process to conduct two controlled auctions of more

than 4.5 million carats of stockpiled gems from the area.

The compromise KP deal has however sparked an outcry from diamond

buyers and jewellery makers who fear the move would taint the industry

with illicit stones mined under controversial conditions.

At least two groups the Rapaport Diamond Trading Network and leading

jewellery brand MasterCut have already banned trade in Marange

stones, with the former threatening to blacklist any of its 10

000-plus members who violate the ban.

Cranswick also revealed that ACR had activated a strong exploration

programme with appropriate alliances on our rare-earth and phosphate

prospects in Isoka, Zambia.

Shortly to be expanded into second phase planning of our gold, copper

and diamond prospects (Isoka and Kasempa), Zambia provides an

interesting extension prospect for ACR’s asset base…It also provides

another step along the road to becoming a more significant regional

player in the sector, he said.

The company is already pursuing other exploration activities in

Zimbabwe where its teams have discovered gold and phosphate deposits.