Yesterday, President Robert Mugabe announced that his government will take over all diamond mining operations because illicit trading by existing miners had robbed the country of over $13 billion. To this effect, the state has created a new company to take control of the country’s deposits, after ordering all mining companies in the Marange and Chimanimani areas to end operations and leave the premises.
“The state will now own all the diamonds in the country,” Mugabe said during an interview with state-controlled ZBC TV. “Lots of smuggling and swindling has taken place and diamond mining companies have robbed us of our wealth. That is why we have decided that only the state must have a monopoly.” Therefore, the Zimbabwe Consolidated Diamond Company will take over mining.
Mining Weeklyreports that on Monday, Mbada Diamonds, the largest diamond mine in Zimbabwe, sued the government and was given back control of its mining assets. Anjin Investments, a Chinese-owned mining company also took the government to the state’s High Court on Wednesday, challenging the ban. Other mining companies including Diamond Mining Company, Kusena Diamonds, Jinan Mining Limited, and Marange Resources Limited have also refused to accept the nationalization of their assets.