Zimbabwe To Hold Second Diamond Conference
June 10, 14
(IDEX Online) – Zimbabwe’s Ministry of Mines and Mining Development will organize a second Zimbabwe Diamond Conference on November 6-7 in Harare. The first was held in November 2012.
The conference will be hosted by Minister of Mines and Mining Development Walter K. Chidakwa who will address the audience on behalf of the Zimbabwe government.
Dignitaries from leading African diamond producing countries and delegates from world leading diamond trading companies, manufacturers, financiers and jewelers will come together during the conference.
Zimbabwe is the third-largest diamond-producing nation in the world in volume terms. According to the 2012 Kimberley Process report, Zimbabwe produced 12.06 million carats of rough stones with a value of $644.03 million.
The government of Zimbabwe is currently in the process of optimizing its revenues from diamond sales by organizing tenders in different locations. In December 2013, the first Zimbabwean rough diamond tender in Antwerp achieved sales of $10.5 million from the sale of 279,723 carats.
A second Antwerp tender last February raised $70 million from the sale of 959,931 carats. Meanwhile, in March, a diamond tender in Dubai raised $29.3 million from the sale of 380,626 carats.
Ministry of Mines and Mining Development Permanent Secretary Prof. Francis Gudyanga said: “Since being accepted again as a full member of the KPCS in 2011, Zimbabwe has made a lot of progress in the diamond industry. By organizing this conference, we would like to highlight these accomplishments. Zimbabwe has found its place again in the industry.”