Zimbabwe’s Ministry of Mines and Min- ing Development has licensed Ghanaian mining house Ge Nyame to extract diamonds in the Chiadzwa concession under a 50:50 joint venture (JV) with the State-owned Zimbabwe Mining Development Corporation (ZMDC).
ZMDC chairperson Goodwills Masimire- mbwa says Ge Nyame is expected to start oper- ations soon.
“Negotiations with Ge Nyame started over a year ago and they are now on the ground doing some exploration work. They are [mining diamonds] in terms of a 50:50 JV with the ZMDC. We have already installed some diamond processing equipment on the site. More equipment is being imported and full-scale mining will start in February.”
The granting of a licence to a Ghanaian company has left some local mining companies and individual investors questioning why the Ministry and the ZMDC licensed a foreign company ahead of locals at a time when government is pushing for locals to enter the lucrative mining sector, previously controlled by foreign-owned mining conglomerates.
Indigenous miners, under the banner of the Zimbabwe Miners Federation and indigen- ous business lobby group the Affirmative Action Group, have been at the forefront of a campaign for the parcelling out of gold, platinum, diamond, chrome and coal concessions to locals ahead of foreigners. They argue that such a policy will be complementary to the country’s indigenisation and economic empowerment programme.
Ge Nyame becomes the sixth company to mine diamonds in Marange. It joins Mbada Diamonds, Anjin Investments, Marange Resources, Zim Diamonds and Diamond Mining Corporation, which have been mining in the Marange and Chiadzwa concessions for the last three years.