The government has given the green light a Chinese diamond mining company, Anjin, to resume mining operations in the Chiadzwa diamond fields.
Anjin was booted out during the reign of former President Robert Mugabe on February 22 2016, along with Mbada Diamonds.
The two mining firms were expelled on the grounds that their special grant licences had expired. This came after Mugabe complained that the companies were engaged in leakages of diamonds out of the country, with the nation benefitting nothing.
However, the incumbent President Emmerson Mnangagwa has roped in Anjin and a Russian company, Alrosa. Speaking about this latest development, Mines and Mining Development Minister Winston Chitando said:
Anjin, which used to operate in the area, is now back on the ground. We expect that it will commence production, at the latest, by the end of May. We are looking at it is a significant producer in that regard.
The two companies, Anjin and Alrosa, will form partnerships with the Zimbabwe Consolidated Diamond Company (ZCDC), which is wholly owned by the government of Zimbabwe.