The decision to give Zimbabwe no more than a slap on the wrist for the human rights abuses which its army has committed on the Marange alluvial diamond fields in the south-east of the country seriously threatens the future of the diamond industry's initiative to avert consumer boycotts of its gemstones.
Zimbabwe's rough diamond trade has escaped a six-month suspension by the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme (KPCS) - an international initiative to stem the flow of conflict diamonds - after its own investigating team recommended earlier in 2009 that the country be temporarily barred from importing and exporting the gems.
Government has started withdrawing State security agents deployed to secure the Chiadzwa diamond fields as part of measures to comply with the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme recommendations.
Dinesh Mahtani, the coordinator of the UN Eminent Group of Experts report on militia groups' activities in DRC has told the BBC that almost 40 tonnes of gold is smuggled out of the country annually.
The just ended sight at the Diamond Trading Company Botswana, though still a long way from normal levels, saw a favourable improvement in sales when compared to the same period last year when virtually no diamonds were sold
Golden Star Resources Ghana Limited announced on Thursday, November 12, this year, that during the third quarter of 2009, it paid US$3,127,398.42 in royalties to the Government of Ghana, out of production from the Bogoso/Prestea and Wassa Mines.
Chromex Mining Plc, which is listed on the London bourse's Alternative Investment Market (AIM), has sealed a purchase deal for a 49 percent stake in Zimbabwean chrome miners Falvect Mining, for what it described as "a nominal consideration".
Nature Aid Ghana, a non- governmental organisation (NGO) poised to promote environmental protection, has called on the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to urgently come out with the necessary sanctions against Newmont Ghana Gold Limited (NGGL), for the recent cyanide spillage.
JUNIOR gold miner Simmer & Jack yesterday posted a R65m operating loss for the six months to September, mainly due to mounting operating cash costs.
ZIMBABWE Mining Development Corporation's partners in the exploitation of diamonds in Chiadzwa have invested about US$50 million in plant and machinery over the past two months.
Rep. Jim McDermott (D-WA), flanked by leaders from World Vision, the Enough Project, Global Witness, and the Information Technology Industry Council, unveiled legislation he will introduce in the U.S. House of Representatives today to help stop trade in conflict minerals that is sustaining a brutal war of unfathomable atrocities, especially against women, in the Congo. Rep. Frank Wolf (R-VA) ...
BCL Mine has asked its suppliers to give the company support for the mutual benefit of the two parties.
THREE separate studies have estimated that charcoal consumption in Dar es Salaam has a household use of between 2.7 and 3.5 of the larger 56kg bags per annum. By extrapolating from this figure to the total population of the commercial capital it is possible to estimate the total amount of charcoal that is entering and being used here.
A strike is looming in the mining sector as workers and employers have failed to break the impasse over salary negotiations.
A new national policy on mining is in its final stages with a selected technical team working on it before it heads to parliament for debate.
