Diamond output drops by 62% as court cases hinder productivity

The Marange fields have produced 900 000 carats of diamonds this year, which is very low compared to the  3,2 million carats produced in 2015.  A 62% drop from last year. Productivity has been hampered by  court cases where the miners are challenging the government’s decision to takeover the mines.

Mines Minister Walter Chidhakwa addressing a parliamentary committee on mines and energy committee on Monday said:

So far delivered to ZCDC in terms of weight, the total is 924,388 carats and that compares very badly with 3,2 million carats for 2015. The explanation is that the 924,000 carats are coming from the two mining locations not the seven mining locations. So we need to finalise the court cases.

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