Ray Bande
Senior Reporter
GOVERNMENT is geared to expand the production of diamonds across the country, amid expectations of more mines being opened from exploration projects currently underway, Vice President Constantino Chiwenga has said.
Vice President Chiwenga said this during a tour of deep boiling machinery at Zimbabwe Consolidated Diamond Company (ZCDC) in Chiadzwa, Marange on Wednesday.
Deep boiling and acidization method is used to remove internal and external dirt from the diamonds, helping to give the final lustre to precious stones.
Vice President Chiwenga said: “In the diamond sector, we envision the opening of more mines from exploration projects currently ongoing, expansion of existing projects, increased capacity utilisation and value addition as well as beneficiation.
“We are glad that despite the diamond sector in Zimbabwe having unprecedented challenges a decade ago, we have been on a growth trajectory that has seen the diamond production output revenue increasing. The consolidation of diamond mining companies to form Zimbabwe Consolidated Diamond Company has brought improvements in the sector.”
Vice President Chiwenga bemoaned global production of synthetic diamonds that is eating into the natural rough diamonds market share.
“The diamond sector is presently under threat from synthetic diamonds which have taken a 15 percent market share of rough diamonds sales. It is of critical importance that we protect the natural diamond sector and the good that natural diamonds bring to our communities and the nation,” he said, praising the ZCDC for investing in the deep boiling machinery.
“I am happy to officiate at this event as we look at value-adding our rough diamonds to be more competitive in the global market. The brief that we received, and the subsequent tour of the deep boiling facilities made us appreciate the importance of undertaking basic process such as removing the coating of our rough diamonds at the source of production as this will reduce the burden of transportation and leakages.
“This facility, in essence, is a cost benefit enterprise in our endeavour to maximise profitability. The diamond industry is dynamic, and the sector has witnessed unprecedented challenges and opportunities. It is some of these challenges that we continue to address in order to be more viable and seize opportunities abound in the diamond trading industry,” said Vice President Chiwenga.
He urged ZCDC to carry out its mining operations in a manner that minimises environmental degradation.
“The impact of mining on the environment cannot be understated. Zimbabwe Consolidated Diamond Company is encouraged to carry out its mining operations in a responsible manner that minimise environmental degradation. This resonates withFrom page 1
the United Nations Sustainable Goal 12 on ensuring sustainable production and consumption patterns as it sets out how many operations ought to be conducted.
“Mining activities should be conducted in a manner that achieve sustainable management and efficient use of natural resources. I, therefore, encourage the maintenance of high ethical standards, good extractive practices and peace with communities to protect our diamond industry,” said Vice President Chiwenga.
ZCDC recovers diamonds classified as free diamonds and attached diamonds. Attached diamonds are diamonds with some non-diamond material (host rock) still stuck to the diamond.
Both free and attached diamonds are cleaned using chemical methods.
For attached diamonds, caustic fusion method is used to remove the non-diamond material and thus free the diamonds.
For free diamonds, deep boiling and acidization method is used to remove internal and external dirt from the diamonds, giving final lustre to stones.
Both free and attached diamonds were previously being cleaned by a third-party contractor in Harare following decommissioning of ZCDC’s deep boiling facility (ZDBF) in July 2017.
This set-up had several demerits that include limited control of the cleaning process, techniques and quality assurance.
It also entailed limited control of security system and diamond control and accounting of the cleaning process.
There was also limited control of cleaning processes outcomes, for example, possible upgrade of near gem and boarts diamonds to gem diamonds.
Gem diamonds contribute 80 percent of sales revenue.
ZCDC then made a decision to develop in-house diamond cleaning processes, and so far caustic fusion (Detachment Plant) was commissioned in December 2023 to clean attached diamonds from the mine.
Deep boiling facility (and sort house) were constructed at the mine and commissioning started on November 18, 2024.
The latest development is expected to see reduced risk of diamond pilferage at contractor facility, develop in-house skills in diamond cleaning processes, improved diamond sorting and evaluation, improved diamond value and revenue, potential improvement in percent upgrade of boart and near gem diamonds to gem.
After the deep boiling was commissioned on November 18, it has cleaned a total of 213 557 carats as at December 6, 2024 and upgraded gem quality from 4.2 percent to 8.1 percent. It has also reduced processing cost from US$0.20 per carat to US$0.12 per carat.
National Security Minister, Senator Lovemore Matuke, Minister of State for Manicaland Provincial Affairs and Devolution, Advocate Misheck Mugadza, Mines and Mining Development Deputy Minister, Honourable Polite Kambamura, Primary and Secondary Education Deputy Minister, Honourable Angeline Gata, service chiefs, Members of the House of Assembly, ZANU PF and traditional leadership accompanied the Vice President.
