GEMS . . . Diamonds from Zimbabwe's Marange field near Mutare

HARARE -- The Zimbabwean government has hired Namibian consultants to train locals and help clean up its diamond industry to meet Kimberley Process (KP) requirements, secretary for mines Thankful Musukutwa told members of parliament on Tuesday.

The announcement by Musukutwa as KP monitor Abbey Chikane visited Zimbabwe’s controversial Chiadzwa or Marange diamond field suggested Harare was keen to remain part of the KP despite threats by President Robert Mugabe to pullout out of the grouping of government, industry and civil society actors formed to stop trade in blood or conflict diamonds.

Mugabe and Mines Minister Obert Mpofu have threatened to sell Zimbabwe diamonds outside the KP process should the regulator rule that efforts by Harare to comply with its standards were inadequate.

But striking a more conciliatory tone Musukutwa told Parliament’s portfolio committee on mines that the Namibians had been brought in to help ensure that the two firms contracted to mine the Marange claims were doing so in accordance with KP standards.

He said: "We have brought in Namibians who are the consultants in diamond mining, there are also training some Zimbabweans, so that we can have a 100 percent compliance with the KP."

Musukutwa told the legislators that one of the two firms working on the Marange claims, Mdaba Investments, has met all KP requirements while the other firm, Canadile Miners, was working to bring its operations in line with the standards of the diamond watchdog.

“At the moment we are 100 percent compliant with Mbada although Canadile is somewhere between 85-90 percent,” Musukutwa said.

Chikane, who arrived in Zimbabwe on Monday, was yesterday expected to tour Chiadzwa to assess mining of diamonds there.

Upon arrival Chikane, who is South African, held meetings with Mpofu, officials from the finance ministry, Zimbabwe Revenue Authority, Minerals Marketing Corporation of Zimbabwe and the police. Officials from the Namibia-based Global Diamond Evaluators also attended the meeting.

Chikane has also inspected Mbada Investments’ sorting and valuation facility at the Harare International airport.

Mbada and Canadile are two joint ventures that the government-owned Zimbabwe Mining Development Corporation (ZMDC) last year formed with two South African firms as part of measures to bring mining of diamonds at Chiadzwa in line with standards stipulated by the KP.

Chiadzwa is one of the world’s most controversial diamond fields with reports that soldiers sent to guard the claims after the government took over the field in October 2006 from a British firm that owned the deposits committed gross human rights abuses against illegal miners who had descended on the field.

Human rights groups have been pushing for a ban on Zimbabwean diamonds but the KP last November declined to suspend the country and instead opted to give Harare a June 2010 deadline to make reforms to comply with its regulations. – ZimOnline.