Sundaymail EditorThe Zimbabwe Consolidated Diamond Company will resume operations after securing an environmental impact assessment certificate, the firm’s CEO, Dr Morris Mpofu, has said.
ZCDC had stopped mining following a High Court ruling compelling the company to first comply with environmental management regulations. In story published earlier, The Sunday Mail Business reports that ZCDC and the Environmental Management Agency are making frantic efforts to expedite certification. It later emerged that the process had been successful.
Dr Mpofu said, “Following full compliance with the requirements of Ema, the EIA certificate has just been issued. ZCDC will, with immediate effect, start its mining operations and switch on the plants to start diamond recoveries for the benefit of the nation. (The disruption) will affect our monthly targets, but we will reorient our production to achieve the annual targets.”
EMA spokesperson Mr Steady Kangata said, “I am not sure at the moment as to whether it has been issued. But as I highlighted earlier on, the plan was always to make sure we quicken the process.”
“There is also a background: While the certificate is not transferable, it has previously been issued at the same mine deposits, so all these factors can lead to early processing.”
Online Reporter