Diamond sector targets 7m carats
TENDAI BHEBE
Zimbabwe’s diamond sector is targeting to produce 7m carats this year from 5m carats achieved last year, Mines and Mining Development Minister, Winston Chitando, has said.
Chitando made the remarks at the African Diamond Procedures Association (ADPA) meeting held in Victoria Falls last week.
“The diamond sector is fast growing and we are targeting over 7m carats by the end of 2023,” Chitando said.
He added: “We also have exploration activities which are ongoing with positive results being indicated. As a strategic mineral, diamonds do play a key role in Zimbabwe’s mining industry and the economy at large.”
President Emmerson Mnangagwa, who also spoke at the same meeting, said it was critical to strengthen the capabilities in the diamond sector.
Recently, a Gemology centre was established in the city of Mutare, Manicaland Province.
Gemology is the science of studying, cutting, and valuing precious stones, but the essence of gemology is in identifying gemstones.
“The beneficiation in the mining sector in general must be facilitated towards realising the maximum benefits from our continents’ rich natural resource base. The citizens within African diamond producing countries must be empowered and facilitated to play a greater role in the diamond value chain,” Mnangagwa said.
He added: “ To date Zimbabwe is strengthening capabilities in the diamond sector with the recent establishment of a Gemology center in Mutare. Our people, especially the youth and women, should not be mere spectators but active participants in the various aspects of this strategic mining subsector of the economy.”
Government is pushing for value addition and beneficiation of precious stones. The administration said beneficiation was the panacea to the social and economic development challenges of mineral-rich developing countries like Zimbabwe that are currently failing to realise optimum value from their vast deposits of precious gems.
In 2021, President Mnangagwa launched a strategic roadmap to the achievement of a US$12 billion mining industry by 2023
Midlands State University’s faculty of engineering and geosciences former student, Clever Sithole ,who is in Afghanistan ,is heading the first-ever and leading gemstones processing project funded by USAID.
The project comprises a gemstones laboratory and a lapidary centre. It is aimed at promoting value addition and beneficiation of precious stones in the Middle East country.
