HARARE A Chinese firm mining Zimbabwes controversial Marange deposits is waiting for Kimberley Process (KP) permission to export a huge stockpile of rough diamonds, a senior government official said Wednesday. Deputy Mines Minister Gift Chimanikire did not say how much diamonds Anjin Zimbabwe has stockpiled but industry sources said the miner could be holding as much as 1.5 million carats of rough diamonds.
“Anjin is now awaiting certification from the KP,” Chimanikire said. “It has stockpiled diamonds (that) cannot be exported until the KP certifies them.
Anjin is one of five companies working at the Marange diamond field that is also known as Chiadzwa and is said to hold enough deposits to generate up to US$2 billion annually.
The other firms working at Marange are Mbada Diamonds; Marange Mineral Resources (formerly Canadile); Pure Diamonds, a Lebanese firm and Sino Zim, a joint commercial entity between the Chinese government and Zimbabwe with business interests in various sectors of the economy.
But the status of diamonds from Marange banned by the KP in 2009 because of concerns over human rights abuses at the mines — remains hazy, with KP chairman Mathieu Zamba of the Democratic Republic of the Congo said to have unilaterally given Zimbabwe permission to export the stones.
The KP which allowed Zimbabwe to conduct two supervised sales in August and September last year following a report by its monitor Abbey Chikane that said Harare had met all the regulators conditions takes decisions by consensus.
Zambas unilateral action has angered many KP members, while several international diamond trade groups said last week they would block trade in any gems originating from Marange.
The World Diamond Council (WDC), Jewelers of America (JA), the Diamond Manufacturers & Importers Association of America (DMIA), the Gems & Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC) and Rapaport Diamond Trading Network have told members to stay away from Marange stones.
Meanwhile Chikane has reportedly said he was unwilling to continue as the KPs monitor in Zimbabwe. But officials in Harare claimed they were not aware of Chikane stepping down, and said they expected him to certify Anjins production.
The issue of Zimbabwe exporting the Marange diamonds has long divided the KP along political lines, with Western countries led by the United States, Germany and Australia as well as civil society groups that are members of the organisation calling for the stones to be banned.
African and other countries, including Russia, have however opposed the calls to ban the diamonds.
Post published in: News