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Harare Bureau
The decision to clean a large number of the gems in Zimbabwe’s second Antwerp diamond sale and a general improvement in the quality of gems helped push up revenues.
Zimbabwe’s revenue from the second diamond sale in Antwerp improved 700 percent from just over triple the amount of carats sold from the first sale held in December.The second sale, which was held last week, yielded $70 million from the 959,931 carats sold, compared to $10,5 million achieved from 279,723 carat sold last year.
In a statement yesterday, Mines and Mining Development Minister Walter Chidhakwa said the success of the tender and the high price per carat was achieved due to the decision to clean a proportion of the diamonds which resulted in many categories being upgraded to higher value. The minister added all goods will in future require cleaning prior to valuation.
Of the total revenue generated, $10,5 million will go to Treasury. This is the 15 percent royalty fee paid in by the selling companies from royalties. Six mining companies contributed to the 959,931 carats The $70 million was far better than earlier forecast revenues of around $35 million, as a single carat was being auctioned at an average price of $72,90.
This probably reflects an improvement in the quality and marketing of the local gems, which was not the case in the first Antwerp sale. Following that initial sale, Mines and Minerals Development secretary Professor Francis Gudyanga said the carats were not up to par.
“Overall, 89 percent of the goods offered consisted of low quality industrial goods. In general, goods were not optimally cleaned, sorted and parcels were not ideally composed,” he said.
Among the 959,931 carat, there were two diamonds, one with 14,1 carat fetching $18,400, while another 13,1 carat stone was sold at $15,000. According to the statement, out of the six miners, five of them resembled the diamond footprint compared to the first sale in which only two firms conformed to the footprint, which explains the better output.
Of the footprint of rough diamonds from the Marange diamond fields, the better quality consist of “near gem and gem quality diamonds with mostly greenish and brownish colours”.
The improved sale will likely see Zimbabwe strengthening its ties with the Antwerp Diamond World Centre, even as the government has suggested that upcoming diamond sales will be in held in Dubai and Shanghai, respectively.
Online Reporter