Alrosa Zim seeks more diamond concessions
ALROSA Zimbabwe Limited (Alrosa Zim) intends to increase the number of its diamond concessions in the country to 40 from the existing 25.
The company is jointly-owned by the State-owned diamond mining firm — Zimbabwe Consolidated Diamond Company (ZCDC) and the world’s largest diamond producer, Alrosa, which is headquartered in Russia.
In 2020, Alrosa Zim announced that it had begun preliminary exploration work for commercially viable primary diamond deposits in the country.
Speaking to Bloomberg recently, the mining group’s chief executive officer Mr Sergey Ivanov was quoted as saying:
“The coronavirus hasn’t halted Alrosa’s perspective on Zimbabwe’s diamond-mining prospects and the company intends to accelerate its activities there. Alrosa Zimbabwe, which holds 25 prospecting concessions, expects to receive another 15 by late February to early March.”
Alrosa, which accounts for almost a third of the world’s rough diamond production, has a 70 percent stake in Alrosa Zim with the remaining 30 percent being owned by ZCDC.
The Ministry of Mines and Mining Development has finalised the issuance of the requisite special grants and the project has already been granted an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) certificate in line with Government’s strategy towards sustainable mining.
Alrosa has advised that it is investing an initial US$12 million for the project that will run right up to next year.
The special grants are in the three provinces of Masvingo, Matabeleland South and Matabeleland North.
Last year, the company also announced that work was set to commence in Chiredzi district in the Malipati area before extending to Bulilima district of Matabeleland South in the Maitengwe area.
The Government expects the diamond industry to contribute about US$1 billion in exports by 2023.
In 2020, the diamond sector earned the country US$141 million.
The mining sector has been recognised by the Government as one of the major economic sectors set to drive the nation into attaining an upper middle income economy by 2030.
The mining sector accounted for US$3,2 billion of Zimbabwe’s $4,4 billion total exports realised last year. — Bloomberg/Business Chronicle
