Mining Companies In Marange To Slash 400 Jobs

(IDEX Online) – Diamond mining companies operating in the Marange diamond deposits in Eastern Zimbabwe will this week lay off more workers in a move will result in more than 400 job losses.

Chinese companies Anjin and Jinan are among the companies that have ceased mining and will be shutting down because alluvial diamond deposits at Marange have run out, news reports cited worker's unions as saying.

The companies first reported depleting alluvial diamond deposits last year. They asked the government to allocate them new mining areas, claiming they did not have the necessary expertise or technology to drill below the ground surface for diamonds.

There are seven diamond mining companies operating in the area.

Companies have begun handing out employment termination notices to workers and employees are being laid off without any benefits, according to union officials, allafrica.com reported.

Farai Maguwu of the Center for Natural Resources Governance NGO said the dismissals were inevitable. "Companies have been downsizing their labor force for a long time now. We expected this since it was reported that diamonds are running out.

"The question is how the workers are being laid off? Are they getting what is due to them? Is the government ensuring that the workers are not getting a raw deal."

Maguwu added that it was difficult to determine exactly how many workers were being laid off due to the secretive nature of the diamond mining industry.