Shrenuj Botswana unveiled its diamond cutting and polishing factory in Gaborone and announced plans to establish a jewelry manufacturing facility in Botswana by September 2010. A company spokesperson told Rapaport News that the Surat, India-based company currently employs 151 people at its Botswana facility. The 15,000-square-foot factory has the capacity to process around $100 million worth of rough per year, the spokesperson reported.
Shrenuj is one of 16 Diamond Trading Company Botswana (DTCB) sightholders in the country receiving rough diamonds from De Beers. DTCB, a joint venture between De Beers and the Botswana government, was established as part of the country’s beneficiation program, which is designed to expand its diamond industry beyond just mining. As part of that plan, the government is hoping to create a trading hub in Gaborone.
De Beers Asked to Move Aggregation to Botswanaamibian President Hifikepunye Pohamba called for De Beers to shift its aggregation activities from London to Gaborone, Botswana to help strengthen southern Africa’s status as a diamond hub, the Botswana Press Agency (BOPA) reported after a Diamond Trading Company Botswana (DTCB) briefing. De Beers initially planned to transfer its aggregation activities to Botswana in 2009, but postponed the step, saying that a number of key issues needed to be resolved first.
Pohamba said the move would also assist in the integration of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) economies. Pohamba noted that only a small portion of rough diamonds mined by Namdeb, a joint venture between De Beers and the Namibian government, were being supplied to local sightholders.
The new DTCB chairman, Gabaake G. Gabaake, responded that Botswana was negotiating a new sales agreement with De Beers and that aggregation was a part of that discussion, BOPA noted.
Russia’s Diamond Production Down
Russia mined 6 percent fewer diamonds from January 2010 to April 2010 compared with the same period of 2009, Interfax reported, citing information from the Federal State Statistics Service, Rosstat. Diamond mine output fell 4.2 percent year on year in April and 5.2 percent in April compared with March, according to the Russian news agency. *
Zimbabwe Bans All Diamond Exports
The government of Zimbabwe suspended all diamond exports from the country. Obert Mpofu, mines and mining development minister, told the country’s Herald newspaper that he decided to halt all exports until the issue of Kimberley Process (KP) certification of diamonds from the controversial Marange fields has been “sorted out. ”
Mpofu said applying the ban to all mines was in accordance with World Trade Organization (WTO) rules on nondiscrimination. “There seems to be a belief among our detractors that in Zimbabwe there are some diamonds which are pure or more acceptable to them than others,” Mpofu said in the article.
There are three diamond mines operating in Zimbabwe: Rio Tinto’s Murowa mine, independently owned River Ranch and Marange. The government recruited South Africa-based Mbada and Canadile Resources to mine two of five concessions at Marange, while reports have indicated that China-based Anjin Investments recently started mining a third. Exports from Marange were suspended in November 2009 when the country agreed to a KP Joint Work Plan (JWP) to bring the Marange fields into KP compliance, after widespread accounts of severe human rights abuses.
The KP recently adopted a report from Abbey Chikane, the KP monitor for Zimbabwe, that outlined loopholes in mining operations there. At press time, Chikane had returned to the country to follow up on his fact-finding mission during which, he said, officials withheld critical information about mining activities in Marange, Voice of America (VOA), the U.S. government-funded news service, stated. Among other reports of smuggling that surfaced after Chikane’s report was filed, nongovernmental organization (NGO) the Center for Research and Development (CRD) claimed that security lapses at the Canadile operation were allowing approximately 2,000 carats of diamonds per day to be smuggled out of the country.
Jewelers of America (JA) stated that it learned the KP working group monitoring Zimbabwe had found multiple shipments of rough diamonds moving from Zimbabwe to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) between December 2009 and April 2010 in violation of the JWP. Thankful Musukutwa, Zimbabwe’s permanent mines secretary, wrote to Stephane Chardon, chair of the KP working group, saying that “it is our understanding that the diamonds produced by Marange Resources from 2007 until decommissioning in 2009 are not subject to the KP monitor-supervised export mechanism,” according to the Zimbabwe Independent.
Meanwhile, U.S. Senators Russell Feingold, Johnny Isakson and John Kerry introduced the Zimbabwe Transition to Democracy and Economic Recovery Act (S.3297), which, if passed, would offer a more flexible approach to imposing sanctions on the country. Feingold explained that the bill urges the Obama administration to consider new sanctions on individuals and to press for Zimbabwe’s suspension from the KP. Zimbabwe is expected to dominate proceedings at the KP intersessional meeting in Israel from June 21 to 23. *
-Additional reporting provided by Acquire Media.
Article from the Rapaport Magazine - June 2010. To subscribe click here.