Zimbabwe Miners Must Pay Half Royalties in Diamonds
October 11, 22
(IDEX Online) - Diamond miners in Zimbabwe will have to pay half of their royalties to the government in rough gems rather than cash.
The move, to be implemented immediately, was announced by President Emmerson Mnangagwa (pictured)in a weekly newspaper column for The Sunday Mail (9 October edition).
The new royalties rules also include gold, platinum group metals (PGM) and lithium, widely used in rechargeable batteries.
Mnangagwa says the country needs to build its national reserve of precious metals.
"We cannot, as the present government, and as the current generation, run and manage finite resources profligately, without any regard for generations yet and sure to come!" he writes.
"Starting this October, government now requires that part of these royalties come as actual refined mining product in respect of each of the four minerals."