eBusiness Weekly
HARARE – Zimbabwe has resumed diamond sales, a year after they were suspended to allow the new sole miner to put in place effective security, control and marketing systems, a senior government official said on Thursday.
Mines and Mining Development Minister Winston Chitando told a press conference that the country earned more than $800 000 after selling an unspecified amount of diamonds in a test run auction this month.
The government suspended diamond sales in March last year after it merged three private miners into the Zimbabwe Consolidated Diamond Company (ZCDC).
Chitando said during the 10 month sabbatical, the ZCDC had accumulated a stockpile of 1.558 million carats, which will be sold over a period of time.
He said 13 international buyers drawn from countries including Belgium, Botswana, India and South Africa participated in the auction.
“The sale was meant to test the market and to appreciate the economic forces at play in the market environment,” he said.
“It was encouraging to note the test sale realised a value of $829 067 against a set reserve value of $620 631 implying that the bids were above the reserve value by 30 percent, for example one special stone fetched $1 888 per carat.”
The reserve value is the highest possible price arrived at after valuation of the diamonds prior to the sale.
Chitando did not reveal the amount of diamonds that were bought in the auction, “to try and not to prejudice the results of the next auction.”
He said two more auctions from the current stockpile would be conducted in March and April, 2018 and thereafter regular sales would be held from current production.
“In a bid to ensure total transparency and accountability in the marketing and selling of diamonds, government will each time an auction is conducted communicate to the nation developments pertaining to the conduct of diamond sales.
“We have all gained market intelligence from this one sale, and are very optimistic about future sales,” he said.
Chitando said the ZCDC and the Minerals Marketing Corporation of Zimbabwe were pursuing a collaborative approach with other government agencies to promote Zimbabwe’s diamonds globally.
To enhance earnings, Zimbabwe intends to start sending rough diamonds to Botswana by June this year for cutting and polishing before auctions.
Zimbabwe, which mines diamonds primarily in the Chiadzwa area of Marange in Manicaland Province, has been auctioning rough diamonds which do not fetch high prices compared to cut and polished gems.
Statistics show that Zimbabwe’s diamond production rose to 1.8 million carats in 2017, from 961 000 carats mined in 2016. – New Ziana
