Rio Tinto's Zimbabwe Op Wins Corporate Social Responsibility Award

Photo: Rio Tinto Diamonds

Rio Tinto's Murowa Diamonds has won the Zimbabwe National Chamber of Commerce (ZNCC) Best Corporate Social Responsibility Programs award for 2009, the company announced Wednesday night.

Murowa Diamonds was awarded this honor on the basis of its community programs with a special focus on employee welfare and HIV/AIDS programs.

The Murowa Diamonds mine, which is situated near Zvishavane in south-western Zimbabwe, is 78 percent owned by Rio Tinto and began operations in 2004. The surrounding area is dry, relatively underdeveloped and has a number of communities that live mainly a traditional subsistence lifestyle, Rio Tinto said.

Murowa Diamonds’ community initiatives cover education, health, agriculture and business development. Murowa has built classroom blocks at schools in the district, provided text books and built and refurbished health clinics. The company has helped upgrade local cattle stock, provided training for farmers and spearheaded a number of initiatives that enabled households to survive a period of prolonged drought. Further, with Zimbabwe experiencing one of the harshest AIDS epidemics in the world, Murowa Diamonds has facilitated voluntary testing and counseling facilities for employees and community members to encourage people to know their AIDS status.

“This is a great achievement for us,” said Niels Kristensen, managing director of Murowa Diamonds. “We congratulate our team at Murowa and all those who have partnered with us, within the community and beyond.”

Murowa Diamonds community programs reach more than 50,000 people in five wards, namely Murowa, Mhototi and Mutambi in the Zvishavane District, Davira ward 14 in the Chivi district, and the Shashe resettlement area in Masvingo.

Olivia Dzawo, Murowa Diamonds Health and Safety Manager accepted the award from Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai on behalf of the company at a dinner held in Gweru recently.

Meanwhile, Zimbabwe is blocking exports of rough diamonds from the Murowa mine. The country's government is tying these exports to exports from the Marange area, which are currently tightly supervised by the Kimberley Process.

Zimbabwe is blocking the Murowa exports until the Marange goods are allowed to be exported freely, something that will not happen before the KP convenes in November to discuss this.