Maravi

(NEWZIMBABWE) De Beers maintain Marange looting denial

De Beers maintain Marange looting denial
13/11/2011 00:00:00
by City Press

DIAMOND firm De Beers says it left its operations in Zimbabwe’s eastern Marange area after concluding that the diamond deposits did not meet the company’s expectations.
The company insists everything was done above board. This comes at a time when the diamond giant is facing heightening lawsuit threats from the Zimbabwean government for alleged looting in Marange.

Mines Minister, Obert Mpofu says even though the country has been allowed to export its diamonds by the Kimberley Process, it has evidence suggesting De Beers, during its 15 years in the country, was smuggling precious gems, thereby denying the country of revenue.

Speaking from London, De Beers’ media relations head Lynette Gould said that before De Beers left Zimbabwe it sought an audience with the government and handed over its findings.

Gould said: “The presence of diamonds in the Marange area was first discovered in the period 2001 to 2003 by De Beers during its exploration search for primary deposits.

[It was in 2003, that De Beers lost it's Debshan Ranch (117,000 hectares) to land redistribution. My guess is that this - Mrk]

“The prospecting in the region was concluded by early 2006, with the conclusion that the primary source for such diamonds was not local, and De Beers moved to relinquish its prospecting rights in the region.”

De Beers’ licence for exploring the diamond fields then expired in June 2006. From that point, a Zimbabwean company, Mbada Diamonds, took over.

Mbada is currently working there in partnership with the Zimbabwe Mining Development Cooperation, a government company.

De Beers claims that when they left Zimbabwe, key figures in Zanu-PF and the military moved in to monopolise the diamond fields, barring civilians from the diamond rush.

They allege that many lives were lost as the army shot to kill while smuggling took its toll. The Zimbabwean diamonds were then branded "blood diamonds".

[Which the Kimberly Process completely disagreed with, despite pressure from the US and UK, which have economic sanctions against Zimbabwe, which would be completely useless once Zimbabwe would start exporting it's diamonds legally. I guess that's why they wont' set foot in the DRC, where Blood Diamond issues (the use of diamonds to finance REBEL groups) actually apply. - MrK]

Gould added that another aspect that made De Beers consider its future in Zimbabwe was that the government had created an environment of uncertainty.

She said: “In addition, the government had created an environment of uncertainty regarding the status and future of the concession.”

Mpofu said there was no way De Beers did not benefit from its stay in Zimbabwe. He said:

“They smuggled out millions of dollars worth of gems. It is just a matter of time before we finish our investigations and take the matter to the international court.”

According to Gould, De Beers had been in Zimbabwe since the early 1990s with a company called De Beers Zimbabwe.

“By way of background, De Beers arrived in Zimbabwe in 1993 and left in 2006, and first prospected in the Marange area in the late 1990s,” she said.

Zimbabwe is pinning its hopes of economic revival on the diamond deposits.

Labels: ANGLO-AMERICAN, CORRUPTION, DEBEERS, MARANGE DIAMOND FIELDS, OBERT MPOFU, TAX EVASION

posted by MrK @ 4:47 PM