Zimbabwe plans diamond auction in Dubai

Zimbabwe plans to sell diamonds from its eastern Marange fields in Dubai and Shanghai starting in March as it expands a marketing push for the stones following the removal of European Union sanctions.

“The intention is not to sell only in Antwerp, the next sale will be in Dubai and we intend to go to Dubai in March,” Mines Minister Walter Chidakwa told reporters in the capital, Harare, today. “Shanghai will be next.”

The EU lifted sanctions on gems from Zimbabwe’s Marange diamond fields in October. Advocacy groups, including Ontario-based Partnership Africa Canada, have accused Zimbabwe’s ruling party of looting about $2 billion from the Marange fields, partly to fund the nation’s military.

An auction of 958,000 carats of Marange diamonds mined by companies in joint-ventures with the Zimbabwe Mining Development Corp. will end in Antwerp this week, said Chidakwa.

The southern African nation will also build its own diamond exchange after lowering the license fee for diamond cutters to $20,000 a year from $100,000, he said. “Gradually, we must have a certain portion of diamonds sold in Zimbabwe.”