News / National
Zimbabwe expects to to produce 33 percent more diamonds
22 Jul 2012 at 09:30hrs | Views
Zimbabwe has announced that it expects to produce 33% more diamonds in the 2012 calendar year than it had originally predicted, Rough and Polished reported.
Harare revised its estimate for rough diamond production for 2012 from 9 million carats to 12 million carats, although that figure does not include diamond mined by Anjin Investments, one of the country's biggest diamond producers.
The new figure represents a doubling of the 6 million carats extracted in the first six months of the year announced, according to the mid-year budget review presented to the Zimbabwean parliament by Finance Minister Tendai Biti.
If Zimbabwe produces 12 million carats of diamonds by the end of the year, it will have been a 37.6% increase over 2011, when the country produced 8.7 million carats.
Despite the increase in diamonds produced, the government has not collected the revenues that it thought it would from its national diamond industry, forcing Harare to cut its budget.
Harare revised its estimate for rough diamond production for 2012 from 9 million carats to 12 million carats, although that figure does not include diamond mined by Anjin Investments, one of the country's biggest diamond producers.
The new figure represents a doubling of the 6 million carats extracted in the first six months of the year announced, according to the mid-year budget review presented to the Zimbabwean parliament by Finance Minister Tendai Biti.
If Zimbabwe produces 12 million carats of diamonds by the end of the year, it will have been a 37.6% increase over 2011, when the country produced 8.7 million carats.
Despite the increase in diamonds produced, the government has not collected the revenues that it thought it would from its national diamond industry, forcing Harare to cut its budget.
Source - Rough and Polished
