By Godfrey Marawanyika Mar 17, 2014 4:40 AM ET
Save
 Photographer:
Chris Ratcliffe/Bloomberg
An uncut diamond is selected from a collection of colorless and colored
diamonds on a... Read More
The Antwerp World Diamond Centre wants to sell 12 million carats of
diamonds from Zimbabwe this year, which would make the southern
African country one of the six biggest suppliers to the Belgian-based
trading group.
Zimbabwe conducted two auctions at Antwerp, in December and in February,
realizing $10.5 million from sales of 279,723 carats and $70 million from
959,931 carats, according to the country’s Ministry of Mines. The center
has also proposed a memorandum of understanding with the government to
clean and sort the precious stones, leading to the creation of a diamond
hub in the country, Chief Executive Officer Ari Epstein said in a March 13
interview in Harare, Zimbabwe’s capital.
Diamonds are becoming an increasingly important source of revenue for
the government after the European Union lifted sanctions on the Marange
field in the east of the country on Sept. 24 last year. Zimbabwe probably
mined 16.9 million carats last year, according to the Ministry of Mines,
versus 8 million carats in 2011. Figures for 2012 weren’t available.
Before sanctions were lifted against the state-owned Zimbabwe Mining
Development Corp., Zimbabwe sold its diamonds at an average of $47 per
carat while other centers were selling at $76 a carat, Epstein said.
“We were instrumental in the lifting of sanctions against ZMDC,” Epstein
said. The company has joint ventures with five companies, including Anjin
Investments of China
and Mbada Diamonds.
Wealth Fund
Advocacy groups, including Ontario-based Partnership Africa Canada
accuse the ruling Zimbabwe African National Union - Patriotic Front of
plundering about $2 billion from the fields, a charge authorities deny.
Mark van Bockstael, the center’s business intelligence officer and an
assessor for the Kimberly Process, said Zimbabwe has changed. “The
situation is much more mature now,” he said. ``As far as the Kimberley
Process is concerned Zimbabwe has returned to normalcy.’’
Kimberley Process is a government, industry and civil society initiative
to stem the flow of conflict diamonds, or gems used by rebel movements to
finance wars.
Besides Antwerp, Zimbabwe will conduct its first sale of diamonds at the
Dubai Diamond Exchange from March 23 to 30. It is also looking to hold
another sale on the Shanghai Diamond Exchange, according to Mines Minister
Walter Chidakwa.
Rio Tinto Plc also operates a diamond mine in Zimbabwe. Its operation is
not on the Marange field.
To contact the reporter on this story: Godfrey Marawanyika in Harare at gmarawanyika@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Antony Sguazzin at asguazzin@bloomberg.net
Hilton Shone, Sarah McGregor
|
No comments:
Post a Comment