Harare: Zimbabwe will now collect its share of diamond revenue at the point of sale rather than wait for its Marange partners to remit dividends annually. Harare could have been prejudiced of millions of dollars from previous sales, The Herald newspaper reports.

The government’s mining arm, Zimbabwe Mining Development Corporation (ZMDC) holds a 50 percent stake in firms mining gems in Marange, including Mbada Diamonds, Anjin Investments, Diamond Mining Company, Jinan and Kusena.

Mines minister Walter Chidhakwa told a parliamentary portfolio committee that he agrees with the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development that payment of royalties and depletion fees as well as sharing of profits should be done immediately after the sales.

The country’s tax collector, Zimra receives 15 percent of diamond royalties while a 2 percent depletion fee was paid to the ZMDC.

“We have now worked out a way of saying let’s not wait to share our dividend at the end of the year,” Chidhakwa was quoted as saying.

“The rest we share 50-50: this one goes into a government account and this one goes straight into the partner’s account. That is the system basis which we are working on now.”

He also said that the Minerals Marketing Corporation of Zimbabwe was no longer relevant in marketing minerals, as miners were now doing that on their own.

Zimbabwe’s production value declined 14 percent to $538.5 million last year, according to the latest Kimberley Process data. Its volume also eased 14 percent to 10.41 million carats.