Zimbabwe’s finance minister, Tendai Biti, indicated in his 2010 budget presentation that government monitors would maintain control of the Marange diamond operations, despite a recent Kimberley Process (KP) declaration to the contrary.
“[The] Treasury, in consultation with the Ministry of Mines and Mining Development, will appoint a government evaluator in order to assist in the valuation of Marange diamond production,” Biti said in the presentation, which is posted on the Zimbabwe Treasury’s website.
He explained that the mining and finance ministries, “together with law enforcement departments, will station monitors on site on all mining areas in Marange” and that “if necessary, technical experts from the region or the Kimberley Process will also be co-opted into the team.”
The wording in the budget came in stark contrast with the work plan co-authored by the KP and Zimbabwean government representatives at the KP’s annual plenary, held in November. The work plan required all Marange diamonds to be reviewed by a KP-appointed monitor before being exported in order to ensure their compliance with the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme (KPCS). The plan also mandated the demilitarization of the area.
The KP plenary previously failed to suspend Zimbabwe as a member, despite reports of government-sponsored killings and human rights abuses at Marange during the past year, as cited in a KP report concerning its June 2009 visit. Human Rights Watch (HRW) has also reported continued abuses there as late as October, shortly before the plenary was held in Namibia.
Instead, the KP adopted the 12-step work plan to bring Zimbabwe into compliance after the country announced at the plenary that it has improved conditions at Marange by recruiting two companies to work the fields. This recruitment occurred in spite of a recent Harare High Court ruling that confirmed that the fields belonged to the British-registered African Consolidated Resources (ACR).
The disputed area covers 18 square kilometers (1,800 hectares) of the Marange and is considered the richest part of the fields. The government has formed a joint venture with Canadile to mine the southern part of the concession and with South African scrap metals dealer New Reclamation to work the northern section.
In his budget speech, Biti also said that he expects that the legal process connected to ACR’s ownership “should be resolved as soon as possible.” He explained that the joint ventures between the Zimbabwe Mining Development Corporation (ZMDC) and Canadile and New Reclamation have been registered and that the companies will be required to pay a weekly dividend to the government. The ZMDC will “wind up the rudimentary operations in the Marange special grants,” Biti added.
ACR chairman Andrew Cranswick recently told Rapaport News that the companies were digging illegally on ACR’s property in observance of a government directive. He added that while the government had previously expressed interest in working with ACR on the fields, the company was not approached to form any joint ventures.
“We haven’t been allowed on the site since 2006,” Cranswick added, referring to the date when the government forced ACR off the fields.
Biti did not expound on how he expects the legal dispute with ACR will be resolved, instead dedicating the bulk of his presentation to the government’s plans to exploit the Marange territory.
Diamond News
