Diamond Field Discovery Might be Just-in-Time Bonanza for Zimbabwe

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Written by Richard Finlayson, Senior International Editor for Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Zimbabwe may have hit the diamond jackpot--for the second time. Less than a month after reports were circulating that alluvial diamond resources at the Chiadzwa diamond fields were running out, and that moving to underground operations would be too costly, the government announced that new diamond fields have been discovered.

Deputy Mines Minister Fred Moyo said that the new fields in the Umkhondo Basin were situated between Manicaland and Masvingo provinces and covered an area of more than 10,000 square kilometers (3,861 square miles).

"It is a very huge area," Moyo said. "So, obviously the whole area cannot contain a large concentration of diamonds, but the fact is there is huge potential. What we need to do is to mobilize funds to carry out extensive exploration that will determine the areas profitable to mine. We are actually going to use part of our national budget allocation to send our experts to carry out exploration activities in the area."

A Russian company is reportedly already involved in a joint exploration venture, but there have been no confirmed details on any results. At Chiadzwa, all the companies that were granted mining licenses formed joint ventures with the state's Zimbabwe Mining Development Corporation.

Zimbabwe is believed to hold 25% of the world's reserves of diamonds, which can be mined in opencast operations.

In the second half of 2013, the EU lifted sanctions on the country's state mining company. In December, Zimbabwe's first diamond auction was held in Amsterdam, offering low-quality stock.

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