Diamond News Archives

Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa is under growing pressure one year after taking office following the removal of long-time leader Robert Mugabe. That pressure may be about to increase if his handling of the diamond industry doesn’t reflect his alleged commitment to economic reform and anti-corruption.

That’s the main message of a report released Thursday by campaign group and accountability watchdog, Global Witness. According to the organization, good governance of the country’s diamond sector is a barometer of the direction that Zimbabwe is taking more broadly in the post-Mugabe era.

“It will attest to the credence of President Mnangagwa’s claims of a zero tolerance approach to corruption and transformed economic governance,” Sophia Pickles, Campaign Leader at Global Witness, says.

Most of the diamond fields are in Marange in eastern Zimbabwe, where production is dominated by the state-owned Zimbabwe Consolidated Diamond Company (ZCD). It is expected to produce 3.5 million carats this year, up from 2.5 million in 2017.

In 2008, hundreds were killed and thousands had to leave their homes as Zimbabwe’s military forced artisan miners to leave Marange after the early stages of the diamond rush.

In early 2016, Mugabe’s government went further, evicting all diamond mining firms, including two Chinese joint venture companies from Marange. It said at the time their licenses had expired after they declined to merge under a newly created state-owned mining firm.

Mugabe’s administration was frequently accused by Human Rights Watch and other critics of giving the army and security forces access to mineral wealth following the operation.

“Secrecy across Zimbabwe’s diamond sector...

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References

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Australia’s Lucapa Diamond (ASX:LOM) has begun commercial production at its 70%-owned Mothae mine in Lesotho, which it acquired in early 2017.

The operation will add to the Perth-based company annual output, until now on depending on just one mine —  Lulo, in Angola.

The commercial recoveries are being processed through a 1.1 million tonne-per-year plant, which is a key milestone in Lucapa’s development, according to managing director Stephen Wetherall.

The facility incorporates diamond recovery technology reducing potential fractures and improving the recovery of unbroken large stones, Lucapa said in the statement.

The plant will be progressively ramped up to its 1.1Mtpa nameplate capacity following the implementation of a second plant operating shift, it said.

“The high-quality nature of the production from Lulo and Mothae will also enable the group to further its value-enhancing downstream strategy through partnerships with global diamantaires, where discussions are well advanced,” Wetherall said.

In a second phase of development, the company expects to double production at the Lesotho mine to 2.2 million tonnes a year, expected to happen in 2021.

Motahe mine is located just 5km from Letšeng, the highest dollars-per-carat kimberlite diamond mine in the world. The company’s 40%-owned prolific Lulo mine, in turn, hosts the world’s highest dollar-per-carat alluvial diamonds.

The post Lucapa kicks off commercial production at Mothae diamond mine appeared first on MINING.com....

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References

1. ^{^} Skip to main content (www.zerohedge.com)