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Minister Walter Chidhakwa

Zvamaida Murwira Senior Reporter
Government has ruled out awarding diamond mining licences to artisanal miners in Chiadzwa saying such a move would have far-reaching security implications for the country.

Mines and Mining Development Minister Walter Chidhakwa  aid besides being capital intensive, diamond mining had the potential to cause instability in the country.

He said this recently in the National Assembly while responding to a report tabled by the Portfolio Committee on Mines and Energy chaired by Masvingo Urban MP Dr Daniel Shumba (Zanu-PF)

“Hon Members, I hear the issue of whether we can allow artisanal miners in diamond mining in Chiadzwa. I think that if you look at the structures of most countries, artisanal miners are found in Sierra Leone in the Manair River.

“Elsewhere diamonds are not done in that manner and because our alluvial diamonds, which are usually the object of artisanal miners ,are towards the end, there is really no need for us to create an expectation in people and say you will go and mine diamonds when they are towards the end,” said Minister Chidhakwa.

“The conglomerate diamond mining that is currently the programme that we are working on is not an easy way of mining diamonds. The kimberlite diamond mining requires a lot of resources,” he said.

He said diamond mining also had security implications.

“If there is a mineral that I have seen that is so difficult to manage Madam Speaker, it is diamonds. You have a parcel here with gem quality, you have near gem quality and industrial. If you want to upset the pricing structure of this parcel, you can just take away five pieces of gems and the whole structure changes. That is how difficult it is. You cannot put $5 million in your pocket but in a suitcase, but you can put $5 million worth of diamonds in your pocket and move away – depending on the quality of those diamonds,” he said.

“So the issues of security come into play. I think if we want security and stability of this country, let us allow artisanal miners in everything else but in diamonds. I think that is a recipe for disaster,” said Minister Chidhakwa.

He said it was important to hold extensive consultations with various stakeholders to establish a framework to guide the establishment of a model appropriate for Zimbabwe.

“With the depletion of alluvial diamonds and subsequent adoption of the conglomerate mining model, there is need to re-evaluate the feasibility of incorporating artisanal mining in Zimbabwe’s diamond sector. Of importance is the need for a legal framework, a security model and input from international diamond industry stakeholders,” said Minister Chidhakwa.