News / National
New Zim diamond deposit: Reality or mirage?
30 Dec 2010 at 19:49hrs | Views
Zimbabwean president Robert Mugabe together with his mines minister Obert Mpofu sent tongues wagging early this year, when they accused the diamond giant, De Beers of looting gems from Marange over a period of 15 year without declaring the proceeds to the State.
"When the government finally realised this and tried to arrest them (De Beers officials), that's when they hurriedly pulled out and claimed the diamonds were not of commercial value," said Mugabe's sharp-tongued spokesperson George Charamba.
"It's not a secret that alluvial diamonds are mined at the surface. It is not like kimberlite. Why should it take 15 years for such an experienced company to conclude that our diamonds are of no value to them?"
"But we cannot take the issue further because we cannot establish how much of the diamonds have been taken. But the most important thing now is that we have our mines back."
However, De Beers Group's head of media relations, Lynette Gould later told Rough&Polished that this was a 'non story' as they had not extracted a single diamond from Marange.
"By the (Zimbabwe) government's own admission, there is no evidence to support the allegations made against De Beers. Therefore, we view it as a 'non story'," said Gould.
"If we had been mining 'tonnes' of diamonds, over a 15 year period, there would be a very large hole indeed left behind in Marange. Industrial mining of this magnitude would have been impossible to disguise, let alone keep secret."
"In conclusion, not only are the allegations outrageous and incredible, but they also lack any evidence, whatsoever."
The bickering raged on until it subsided, however, the Zimbabwean government is at it again.
This time it is not accusing De Beers of looting gems out of Marange, but a company, whose identity remains shrouded in secrecy.
Recent media reports from Zimbabwe say there could be huge deposits of diamonds in Nyamandlovu area, in Matabeleland North.
State controlled weekly, Sunday News reported that a mining company (name withheld) that was granted a prospecting license to comb the area more than 10 years ago was suspected to be smuggling diamonds out of the southern African country claiming they were samples.
The mining company was granted permission to explore for diamonds and other minerals when Mpofu was the governor for the area.
Mpofu said if discovered that the company was smuggling gems out of the country, the Zimbabwean government would ensure that the company accounts for the mineral they would have taken out under the guise of samples.
"We would demand to know where our minerals were being taken and where the money from their sales is," he was quoted as saying.
The allegations made by the Zimbabwean mines minister are serious.
There is no information on diamonds in Matebeleland North though the region is known for having a significant amount of gold, limestone, methane gas, and coal.
According to Wikipedia, Matabeleland North is a province in western Zimbabwe; its northern border is defined by the Zambezi River, while its western border is shared with the country of Botswana (a diamond producing nation).
Lupane, a rural, semi-arid area, which cultivates cotton and corn is the capital of the province, while Hwange and Victoria Falls are the only towns in this province.
According to Sunday News the unnamed company had begged the then governor Mpofu to get the prospecting license for unspecified minerals.
"When I asked about which mineral they wanted to explore they indicated that it was just a general exploration for different minerals," Mpofu was quoted as saying.
He said he refused the request but the next day the officials indicated that they would build two schools in the area if they are granted the go ahead.
"As a politician I agreed and they indicated that the exploration would last for five years. It is now 10 years and although they have built the schools they have not presented their findings but they have been shipping tonnes of ore saying they are samples. Now after what happened in Chiadzwa I have discovered that the company could be shipping some diamonds," he said.
This is the basis of the minister's allegation and it appears to be nothing but a hunch.
Does he have any concrete evidence on whether this company had been indeed looting gems out of the country?
Surely, it is absurd for one to make such claims without any credible evidence, as this continues to portray Zimbabwe in the negative.
One can be tempted to say that the minister is now hallucinating, as he is seeing diamonds everywhere.
After the De Beers debacle and now this, what else shall we hear from the minister?
However, if his hunch comes out to be true, one wonders why the government of Zimbabwe had not kept a closer eye on the operations of this unnamed company?
One wonders why they never asked for a report on the exploration activities of this unnamed company for the past 10 years they had been operating in the area.
Of course Zimbabwe has a great potential of becoming a great diamond mining nation and most of the country is being actively explored for diamonds due to the predominant presence of Archaean geology.
What is worrying, however, is when ministers mistake shiny river bed pebbles with diamonds.
To date, Zimbabwe has three commercial diamond mines, River Ranch situated in southern Zimbabwe, close to the border with South Africa, Murowa diamond mine located near Zvishavane in southern Zimbabwe and Marange diamond fields in Eastern Zimbabwe.
Rio Tinto is said to have joined a consortium comprising Trans Hex International (subsidiary of the Trans Hex Group) and local Somabhula Explorations to prospect for kimberlites along areas proximal to the Limpopo
River, east of the border town of Beit Bridge.
Alluvial diamonds are periodically extracted from the Somabhula area north of Bulawayo.
Consolidated Trillion Resources and Cratonic (a wholly owned subsidiary of Delta Gold) were also said to be evaluating the 4 ha Ngulube kimberlite located in southern Zimbabwe.
The commercial potential of the pipe was being assessed after numerous micro diamonds were recovered from bulk samples.
So if we have information on some of these diamond prospecting projects that took place or are still taking place in Zimbabwe so why is this Nyamandlovu project cagey?
Why is the name of the prospecting company being withheld, or is the minister trading cautiously, lest he is dragged to the courts for defamation?
It, therefore, remains to be seen if there is a new diamond deposit, in Zimbabwe after Marange and if the minister would be vindicated from his claim.
If that fails to happen, then his claim will be dismissed as a figment of his highly fertile imagination.
"When the government finally realised this and tried to arrest them (De Beers officials), that's when they hurriedly pulled out and claimed the diamonds were not of commercial value," said Mugabe's sharp-tongued spokesperson George Charamba.
"It's not a secret that alluvial diamonds are mined at the surface. It is not like kimberlite. Why should it take 15 years for such an experienced company to conclude that our diamonds are of no value to them?"
"But we cannot take the issue further because we cannot establish how much of the diamonds have been taken. But the most important thing now is that we have our mines back."
However, De Beers Group's head of media relations, Lynette Gould later told Rough&Polished that this was a 'non story' as they had not extracted a single diamond from Marange.
"By the (Zimbabwe) government's own admission, there is no evidence to support the allegations made against De Beers. Therefore, we view it as a 'non story'," said Gould.
"If we had been mining 'tonnes' of diamonds, over a 15 year period, there would be a very large hole indeed left behind in Marange. Industrial mining of this magnitude would have been impossible to disguise, let alone keep secret."
"In conclusion, not only are the allegations outrageous and incredible, but they also lack any evidence, whatsoever."
The bickering raged on until it subsided, however, the Zimbabwean government is at it again.
This time it is not accusing De Beers of looting gems out of Marange, but a company, whose identity remains shrouded in secrecy.
Recent media reports from Zimbabwe say there could be huge deposits of diamonds in Nyamandlovu area, in Matabeleland North.
State controlled weekly, Sunday News reported that a mining company (name withheld) that was granted a prospecting license to comb the area more than 10 years ago was suspected to be smuggling diamonds out of the southern African country claiming they were samples.
The mining company was granted permission to explore for diamonds and other minerals when Mpofu was the governor for the area.
Mpofu said if discovered that the company was smuggling gems out of the country, the Zimbabwean government would ensure that the company accounts for the mineral they would have taken out under the guise of samples.
"We would demand to know where our minerals were being taken and where the money from their sales is," he was quoted as saying.
The allegations made by the Zimbabwean mines minister are serious.
There is no information on diamonds in Matebeleland North though the region is known for having a significant amount of gold, limestone, methane gas, and coal.
According to Wikipedia, Matabeleland North is a province in western Zimbabwe; its northern border is defined by the Zambezi River, while its western border is shared with the country of Botswana (a diamond producing nation).
Lupane, a rural, semi-arid area, which cultivates cotton and corn is the capital of the province, while Hwange and Victoria Falls are the only towns in this province.
According to Sunday News the unnamed company had begged the then governor Mpofu to get the prospecting license for unspecified minerals.
He said he refused the request but the next day the officials indicated that they would build two schools in the area if they are granted the go ahead.
"As a politician I agreed and they indicated that the exploration would last for five years. It is now 10 years and although they have built the schools they have not presented their findings but they have been shipping tonnes of ore saying they are samples. Now after what happened in Chiadzwa I have discovered that the company could be shipping some diamonds," he said.
This is the basis of the minister's allegation and it appears to be nothing but a hunch.
Does he have any concrete evidence on whether this company had been indeed looting gems out of the country?
Surely, it is absurd for one to make such claims without any credible evidence, as this continues to portray Zimbabwe in the negative.
One can be tempted to say that the minister is now hallucinating, as he is seeing diamonds everywhere.
After the De Beers debacle and now this, what else shall we hear from the minister?
However, if his hunch comes out to be true, one wonders why the government of Zimbabwe had not kept a closer eye on the operations of this unnamed company?
One wonders why they never asked for a report on the exploration activities of this unnamed company for the past 10 years they had been operating in the area.
Of course Zimbabwe has a great potential of becoming a great diamond mining nation and most of the country is being actively explored for diamonds due to the predominant presence of Archaean geology.
What is worrying, however, is when ministers mistake shiny river bed pebbles with diamonds.
To date, Zimbabwe has three commercial diamond mines, River Ranch situated in southern Zimbabwe, close to the border with South Africa, Murowa diamond mine located near Zvishavane in southern Zimbabwe and Marange diamond fields in Eastern Zimbabwe.
Rio Tinto is said to have joined a consortium comprising Trans Hex International (subsidiary of the Trans Hex Group) and local Somabhula Explorations to prospect for kimberlites along areas proximal to the Limpopo
River, east of the border town of Beit Bridge.
Alluvial diamonds are periodically extracted from the Somabhula area north of Bulawayo.
Consolidated Trillion Resources and Cratonic (a wholly owned subsidiary of Delta Gold) were also said to be evaluating the 4 ha Ngulube kimberlite located in southern Zimbabwe.
The commercial potential of the pipe was being assessed after numerous micro diamonds were recovered from bulk samples.
So if we have information on some of these diamond prospecting projects that took place or are still taking place in Zimbabwe so why is this Nyamandlovu project cagey?
Why is the name of the prospecting company being withheld, or is the minister trading cautiously, lest he is dragged to the courts for defamation?
It, therefore, remains to be seen if there is a new diamond deposit, in Zimbabwe after Marange and if the minister would be vindicated from his claim.
If that fails to happen, then his claim will be dismissed as a figment of his highly fertile imagination.
Source - Byo24
