(IDEX Online News) – A Chinese-led company has applied to the Zimbabwe government for a license to mine in a new deposit close to the diamond-rich Marange region.

 

Nan Jiang Africa Resources had requested a concession in Bikita in the east of the country which the government is now considering.

 

The company is believed to include both Chinese and Zimbabwean businesspeople.

 

Zimbabwe Deputy Mines and Mining Development Minister Gift Chimanikire said the company had been informed that it must operate in line with Zimbabwe's indigenization and empowerment laws in order to mine in the country.

 

Zimbabwean nationals must own 51 percent of the shares in any company granted a mining license in the country, according to the law.