Zimbabwe Mines and Mining Development Minister Walter Chidhakwa told journalists attending the Kimberley Process (KP) Intersessional Meet in Perth, Australia, that all legal and compensatory issues with his government’s takeover of all the private mining operations at the Marange diamond fields had been settled.

He said the government would now go ahead with consolidating all mining operations in one company, 50-percent-owned by the government.

After months of wrangling, the Zimbabwe government finally took over the diamond mining operations of private companies in the Marange fields — the government already owned at least 50 percent of six of the eight private mining companies in Marange — Marange Resources, Mbada Diamonds, Diamond Mining Corporation, Anjin Investments, Jinan and Gye Nyame Resources — while two, Kusena/Zimbabwe Diamonds and RERA Diamonds, were wholly owned by the state-owned Zimbabwe Mining Development Corporation ((ZMDC).

All mining operations were, however, taken over by the government and brought under a state entity known as the Zimbabwe Consolidated Diamond Company (ZCDC).

The private miners, however, cried foul and went to court. In the resulting imbroglio, Zimbabwe’s diamond output fell over 60 percent to just over 900,000 carats last year, while foreign investment, particularly in the mining sector, dropped 70 percent.

Now, according to the minister, the cases have all been settled. He observed that he was very happy to note that all legal issues have been resolved, particularly with the Chinese-owned Jinan and Anjin firms, who had now dismantled and taken away their equipment, according to him.

The minister also said an issue with the Russian-owned DTZ-OZGEO entity had been settled, with the government agreeing to pay $5.4 million and also take on the firm's debt.

https://www.gemkonnect.com/news/zimbabwe-govt-settles-ousted-private-miners-marange-takeover