Ousted Chinese Miner Resumes Zimbabwe Operation
August 17, 20
(IDEX Online) - Chinese mining giant Anjin has officially resumed operations at Chiadzwa, Zimbabwe, almost five years after all the country's diamond mining was consolidated into a single government-run corporation.
The Mugabe administration forced the closure of seven mining companies, including Anjin, and went on to merge their assets into the Zimbabwe Consolidated Diamond Company (ZCDC).
But President Emmerson Mnangagwa's government has since decided to reverse that move in the hope that it will to restore productivity in the diamonds sector and develop its ailing economy.
The Anjin Diamond Mining Company contributed about $200m to Zimbabwe's economy before it was forced to halt mining in 2016.
It has so far invested $38m to re-start operations at Chiadzwa, in Manicaland Province, and says it will soon employ about 500 people.
Zimbabwe hopes to exploit its rich diamond reserves and treble annual production to 12m carats by 2025, said Winston Chitando minister of mines and mining development, at a ceremony to mark the re-opening of the mine.
Pic shows President Emmerson Mnangagwa