eBusiness Weekly
HARARE – Resources firm RioZim intends to invest up to $25 million to explore and develop its diamond claims in the Sese communal lands in Chivi, Masvingo province, a senior company official said on Monday.
RioZim, which also owns Murowa Diamond Mine in the Midlands province, owns the Sese claims which cover nearly 3 000 hectares.
The claims have been a source of controversy recently, with reports suggesting that RioZim has been failing to develop them since 2000.
A local daily reported on Monday that the Chivi Rural District Council had petitioned the Ministry of Mines and Mining Development in February 2015 over the company’s failure to develop the claims and paying mining levy to the local authority.
But, RioZim chief executive officer Bheki Nkomo said the company had invested in cutting edge equipment to explore the area.
“We have already started. A team has been deployed to the site, the equipment that we want to use, some of it is in transit but the initial work has already started. The team has gone on the ground,” he said in an interview.
“We are looking at a total requirement of $20 million to $25 million to do the whole thing including where we are actually operating from, because exploration is happening where we are operating from and it is also happening on green fields where we are not operating from and it is also going to happen on brown fields where we have done a bit of drilling and we want to then upgrade the ground to a minable condition.”
On allegations that the company was failing to pay its annual mining levy for the claims to the local council, RioZim argued that the law did not require them to pay a mining levy for claims they were not yet exploiting.
Early predictions suggest that the belt bearing the kimberlitic diamond pipes stretched from the neighbouring Zvishavane area to the Sese area in Chivi. – New Ziana
