admin
Tawanda Musarurwa
Diversified mining firm Vast Resources has said Government will finalise its diamond joint venture project in the Chiadzwa diamond fields by the end of this month.
Vast Resources is looking to develop the Heritage diamond concession in the Marange diamond fields in Chiadzwa.
Last October, Vast signed a joint venture agreement with Chiadzwa Mineral Resources (CMR), a company designated to represent the Chiadzwa Community interests in the concession, which resulted in the formation of Katanga Mining (Pvt) Limited.
Katanga was in the process of signing a further joint venture agreement with the Zimbabwe Consolidated Diamond Company (ZCDC), which represents Government in the diamond mining sector.
The Alternative Investment Market (AIM) listed miner said this week that they had received communication from the Ministry of Mines and Mining Development that the second joint venture agreement would be concluded by the end of this month.
“The company has received official communication from the Ministry of Mines and Mining Development to the effect that all internal processes leading to the conclusion of the Joint Venture are expected to be finalised during the month of March 2020,” it said.
The arrangement between Katanga and ZCDC is expected to ensure that the Marange community benefit direct from the natural resources in their area, which is widely regarded as the richest alluvial diamond fields in the world.
Vast was previously focused on gold production in Zimbabwe through its investment in the Pickstone Peerless Gold Mine, but it moved to divest from the gold operation to focus on the diamond project.
Although the gold asset was performing well, management said the business faced several challenges in extracting cash from the operation in the short to medium term for general corporate purposes. Resultantly, the group decided to focus more on the diamond business as the gold asset also sullied the group’s balance sheet.
“In repositioning the business, the group has divested its 25,01 percent stake in its Zimbabwean gold operations, reduced debt, strengthened its management team, and directed resources exclusively to placing its key Romania and Zimbabwean assets into production,” said Vast’s chairman Brian Moritz in the group’s 2019 annual report.
Besides the Heritage Concession in the Marange Diamond Fields, the AIM-listed company’s remaining assets and interests, include the Baita Plai Polymetallic Mine, the Blueberry Project and the Piciorul Zimbrului and Magura Neagra licences, all located in Romania.
Bongani Ndlovu