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Mozambique: Diamond Prospection
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Agencia de Informacao de Mocambique (Maputo)
18 July 2008
Posted to the web 18 July 2008
Maputo
Seven companies and one individual have been selected in a tender to prospect for diamonds in the basin of the Save river, which marks the conventional boundary between southern and central Mozambique.
The companies are named Save; M'panda Limitada; Preciosa - Precious Stones and Gems Exploitation Limited; Geominas; Monte Binga; Manica Land Mining Limited, and SIVAS. The individual licence was granted to Amilcar Octavio Paulo.
These were selected from a tender launched in March this year, in which 15 proposals were submitted.
Most of the Mozambican companies have signed partnership agreements with foreign concerns. The Mozambican authorities are refusing to allow foreign companies to explore for diamonds, unless they have Mozambican partners. AIM has not yet ascertained who the foreign partners are.
The deputy national director of mines, Obete Matine, told AIM that geological conditions in that area suggest that there must be diamonds in the Save basin. That was why the government had launched the tender and why a significant number of companies were applying for mining licences.
Matine added "we divided the Save valley into eight blocks, from the Zimbabwean border to the mouth of the river and then we launched the tender. The principle was that there should be no monopoly".
He said that the authorities are now working on contracts to be signed by the companies that made successful bids.
These contracts establish certain conditions to be met by the companies, including guarantees that the Mozambican partners will not be excluded from the partnership, and that the company will never be sold to foreigners if diamonds are discovered. They also stipulate that the licences will not be passed to third parties, but must be used effectively as issued.
"The contracts are a guarantee that these companies will meet the conditions imposed by the government", said Matine.
The government's expectations are to have the contracts signed by August and, approved within two months by the Administrative Tribunal so that prospection can begin in November.
Matine stressed that alongside this licensing, Mozambique must accede to the Kimberley diamond certification System, aimed at preventing the marketing of 'conflict diamonds', looted from unstable countries and used to finance wars in Africa. States that are party to the Kimberley system must enforce rigorous rules to ensure that conflict diamonds do not enter the legitimate trading channels.
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Matine said prospection work in the Save basin is likely to take at least five years, and results cannot be expected any earlier.
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| Copyright © 2008 Agencia de Informacao de Mocambique. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections -- or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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