Zimbabwe's diamonds lose bling

According to the latest figures from the Kimberly Process Certification Scheme (KPCS), the volume of diamonds produced by Zimbabwe in the year under review took a 55% nosedive to 4.8 million carats.

This emerged as the value of country's diamonds on the international market tumbled by as much as 56% between 2013 and 2014 to $238.6million.

An industry executive said the volume decline is attributable to a drop in the grades obtaining. The decline in pricing is as a result of the diamonds being of low quality industrial or non-gem quality stones.

These low quality stones make over 80% of the diamonds mined in the country.