MINES minister Obert Mpofu did not float a tender to select prospective investors to partner government in diamond extraction in the Marange Diamond Fields amid allegations he overlooked better equipped and experienced diamond miners.

Investigations by the Zimbabwe Independent revealed that Mpofu cherry-picked Canadile Investments and Mbada Minerals without going to tender.

Sources say Mpofu was grilled by his government colleagues over the selection process of the investors but he defended himself saying that owing to the sensitivity of the diamond situation and sanctions imposed on the country, he could not float a tender.

Government insiders are said to have also enquired if a due diligence survey was conducted into the two would-be partners.

Investigations by the Independent reveal that the two companies, Canadile and Mbada, have never been involved in diamond mining.

Although Mbada Minerals is yet to be registered in Zimbabwe, the company is controlled by Reclamation Group, a South African scrap metal and iron dealer which has never run a mine.

Reclamation first registered Grandwell Holdings, a special purpose vehicle registered in Mauritius, ahead of an anticipated partnership with the Zimbabwean government in the diamond-mining project.

Grandwell was registered as a Global Business Category 2 Company on July 15 under company registration number 89386. The registered agent is Kross Border Trust, according to documents to hand.

Liparm Corporation chaired by retired Air-Vice Marshall Robert Mhlanga is a partner in Grandwell.

Mhlanga was a key state witness in Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai’s treason trial in 2003. He testified that he had contact with former Israeli spy Ari-Ben Menashe who claimed Tsvangirai hired him to kill Mugabe.

His daughter, Patience Mhlanga, and a Zimbabwe Minerals Development Corporation (ZMDC) official, Alex Mukwekwezeke are also directors of Mbada.

But ZMDC chief Dominic Mubayiwa says Mukwekwezeke resigned from the employ of the mining group.
Little is known about Mhlanga except that he is now based in Sandton, South Africa.

But Reclamation, according to our investigations, is no stranger to Zimbabwe’s business and political terrain.

Over the years the South African company has been attempting to make in-roads into Zimbabwe’s mining sector.

Last year the company reportedly made a bid for Zimbabwe Iron and Steel Company (Zisco) but the bid seems to have fallen through.

Before making the bid for Zisco, sources said Reclamation was buying scrap from the rundown steel maker.
Reclamation has secured a 50% shareholding in the diamond mine.

In a move that could see Zimbabwe busting sanctions imposed on the Marange stones, Mbada Minerals has been awarded the lease of the old Harare Airport domestic terminal for the establishment of storage bunkers and diamond cutting facilities.

Industry experts said that once diamonds are semi-cut, the gems would fall outside the jurisdiction of the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme (KPCS), a global watchdog formed to ensure that conflict diamonds do not find their way onto the market.

The export of cut or semi-cut stones after the establishment of a single facet would fall off the KPCS’ radar, essentially removing imposed sanctions.

Already Marange Resources — a wholly owned government mining company — has been ordered to stop mining operations at its mechanised mine in Marange to pave way for Mbada Minerals.

It is not clear yet how much Canadille and Mbada paid for their 50% stakes in the diamond projects.

A joint-venture agreement in the possession of the Independent shows that Reclamation will have exclusive marketing rights of diamonds from Marange.

Reclamation’s other South African directors are Gordon McCrae and his son, Robby, who together own the company through a trust.

According to the Independent investigations, Core Mining, a South African-based company partnered businessman Lovemore Kurotwi to form Canadile Investments.

It is not clear how much shareholding he owns but he is a director of Canadile Diamonds.

He also served in the army and is a retired major.

The consortium comprising Core Mining is led by an Israeli diamond dealer and trader Yehuda Licht or Judah Licht.

Canadille won the bid ahead of Gem Diamonds, a leading global diamond producer with diamond mining operations throughout the world and headquartered in London.

Ironically, the same mining area, a reportedly 1 000 hectares, allocated to Mbada Minerals is in dispute.

African Consolidated Resources (ACR) won a High Court order barring ZMDC from carrying out mining work. The court also ruled that ACR was the rightful owner of the claim.

Satellite images and Marange production reports in our possession show that ZMDC is in contempt of court by continuing to mine there.

Written By: Chris Muronzi, The Zimbabwe Independent