Alrosa Partners with Zimbabwe Mining Company

RAPAPORT… Alrosa has agreed to a joint venture with national
miner Zimbabwe Consolidated Diamond Company (ZCDC) for exploring new diamond
projects in the country.

The deal, which provides Alrosa with a 70% stake in any new
greenfield deposits, encompasses geological exploration, diamond mining and
independent sales of rough stones to external markets, the Russian miner said
Tuesday.

“We are committed to productive work in the exploration of
new, promising areas and subsequent diamond mining,” explained Alrosa deputy
CEO Vladimir Marchenko. “Our specialists have been working in Zimbabwe for more
than three months now, and the national authorities have been of great support
to them. We have chosen various projects for the joint venture, and part of
[those] will be launched this autumn.”

The company is primarily considering areas located in the
Chimanimani region of Zimbabwe, Marchenko noted, stressing that Alrosa did not
plan any operations in Marange, despite recent reports indicating it was
considering the move. Zimbabwe’s Marange fields were a source of contention,
after state security forces killed nearly 200 citizens in 2008 in an effort to
clamp down on informal mining, resulting in the country’s removal from the
Kimberley Process (KP). The KP reinstated Zimbabwe in 2011, but US sanctions
against Marange diamonds remain in place.

“Alrosa only explores and considers the feasibility [in] other parts of the country,” it said. “[The company] has never, and under no
circumstances, considered, and won’t consider, the possibility of entering the
Marange region.”

In December, the miner established Alrosa Zimbabwe Limited,
an affiliate company that will oversee all projects in the country.

Image: Rough diamonds. (Alrosa)