Covid-19 forces private diamond auction
The Minerals Marketing Corporation of Zimbabwe (MMCZ) has been forced to conduct private sales for diamonds as auction sales are now difficult to conduct due to the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Bernard Rinomhota
MMCZ is the country’s exclusive agent for selling and marketing all minerals produced in the country except gold and silver.
Due to the travel restrictions that countries across the world have imposed to fight the spread of the highly infectious respiratory disease which was first detected in China last December, potential buyers for Zimbabwe diamond from around the globe have not been able to come into the country for diamond auction sales.
MMCZ general manager Mr. Tongai Muzenda said as a result of the negative impact of Covid-19, his organisation was now resorting to conducting private sales of the diamond.
“We are now trying to do a few private sales in the sense that auction sales are now a bit difficult to conduct these days because of the Covid-19 pandemic.
“People (prospective buyers) cannot travel into the country for the auction,” he said.
Mr. Muzenda said MMCZ was also using the digital platform by sending the prospective buyers pictures of the diamond Zimbabwe was selling because some customers are knowledgeable of the quality of the local gemstones.
“We have not yet held the diamond auction this year but what we have done is, we conducted private local sales last week.
“However, l don’t have off-hand the exact quantity of the carats that were sold,” said Mr. Muzenda.
Meanwhile, MMCZ has announced that it was set to appoint mineral agents for semi-precious stones to empower small-scale miners to extract and trade in the gemstones while also boosting the mining sector’s contribution to the fiscus.
The mining sector contributes about 70 percent of Zimbabwe’s export earnings.
Recently, the government announced that it was liberalising gemstones trading to allow individuals and corporates to participate in the buying and selling of the semi-precious stones.
Such semi-precious stones include heliodor, aquamarine, tourmaline, amethyst, goshenite, and iolite.
The gemstones, which are used in the manufacturing of jewellery and decorative purposes are strewn all over the country in areas such as Gutu, Mutoko, Hurungwe, Zvishavane, Mutare, and Rusape, among others.
This article first appeared in the September 2020 issue of Mining Zimbabwe Magazine