Harare: The newly established Zimbabwe Consolidated Diamond Company (ZCDC) has reportedly started mining dumps in Marange. Finance minister Patrick Chinamasa said the company was in its “first month or second month”.

“We are now receiving figures of their daily production. They have already started extracting diamonds from dumps and have done 100 000 carats. We are going to publish the figures,” he was quoted as saying by The Herald newspaper.

Harare ordered diamond companies in Marange last month to cease their operations saying their licences had long expired. It also accused the mining firms of refusing to join the consolidated diamond company.

Mbada Diamonds and Anjin Investments, all joint ventures with the state in diamond mining, had since gone to court challenging government’s directive for them to cease mining. Mbada had since got a reprieve to access its mine pending the court’s ruling on the matter.

However, Chinamasa said Harare would not back down on the process of consolidating the sector in search of better returns.

“We have never ceased expressing our disappointment over little revenue from the diamond sector. We are consolidating it for transparency and accountability; we want transparency and accountability,” he said.