ZCDC expects 5,7 million carats this year

THE Zimbabwe Consolidated Diamond Company (ZCDC) yesterday said it expects to produce 5,7 million carats of diamonds this year.

ZCDC board chair, Mr Munashe Shava, said they are emerging as a key player in the diamond market, bucking the current trend of a downturn in commodity prices globally.

Mr Shava also announced that the company even has plans to increase production to almost double that figure in the coming year.

“Commodity prices are depressed on the global market and as ZCDC we have come up with various initiatives to offset this worrisome development.

“We have ramped up production and this year we have set a target of 5,7 million carats and we see this target nearly doubling to 10 million carats in the coming year.

“Apart from ramping up production, we also adopted cost-cutting measures while at the same time optimising operations,” he said in a statement.

Meanwhile, the ZCDC has resumed engaging with stakeholders and the public by exhibiting at the Zimbabwe Agricultural Show after a two-year absence.

ZCDC corporate affairs executive, Sugar Chagonda, said the company is using the exhibition to engage with critical external stakeholders.

“As ZCDC, we are delighted to be showcasing our business operations as well as telling stakeholders and the public how diamonds are transforming the lives of ordinary people beyond Chiadzwa and surrounding communities.

“The outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic had resulted in us slowing down our awareness activities such as this one, but we will now scale up such initiatives,” he said.

The ZCDC was established in March 2016 after the Government consolidated all the diamond mining concessions in Chiadzwa, Manicaland province.

With operations in the Chiadzwa and Chimanimani regions and an eye on the country as a whole, ZCDC is continuing to search for new mines that will contribute to its growing reputation. — New Ziana