TWIST IN DVOKOLWAKO MINE DEAL

MBABANE - The Dvokolwako diamond mine could open before the end of the year, without the involvement of controversial South African property tycoon Roux Shaba-ngu’s or his companies.

There are at least five companies whose bids to relaunch the diamond mine are being considered at a higher level by the Minerals Management Board.
Rouxs’ company is not part of the companies being considered for the multimillion diamond project.
Sam Ntshalintshali, responding to questions on behalf of the Commissioner of Mines, said the board was finalising the selection for the prospective diamond miners.

Ntshalintshali is secretary of the Minerals Management Board a body that is responsible for the evaluating companies for the purpose of granting them exploration and mining rights in the country.

 “We are presently engaged on a process to evaluate bids from companies that expressed willingness to open and operationalise the diamond mine,” he said.
He said part of the things that were under consideration was the companies capacity to undertake a mining project and further investigating if the company had enough funds for the operation of the facility.

“Our preparations are now at an advanced stage. Evaluating companies is a very engaging process because we want to be thorough,” he said.
Ntshalintshali said once the selection was finalised a name for the winning company would be forwarded to His Majesty the king who would make the final appointment.

He asked not to identify the names of the companies that were being considered.
“We will not reveal the names for the companies for now. What we could disclose though is that they are from South Africa and overseas,” he said.
He said due to the diamonds high value, a lot of companies have expressed interests to reopen the mine.
Asked about Roux Consolidated Investments withdrawn licence, he said Roux issue was long finalised with the conclusion that he could no longer mine the Swazi diamonds.

He said Shabangu’s Company was not part of those that were being considered.
“What we should understand with his company issue is the fact that it was not decided over night to cancel his licence,” he said.
He said the company had been given timelines to deliver on certain items as  per the request of the board.

The secretary said the company failed on numerous occasions to deliver and therefore a due process to have the licence withdrawn was initiated.
The failure by Shabangu to open the mine meant close to 2 500 jobs which he declared for the reopening mine remained in jeopardy , but with the award of a new licence, Dvokolwako and surrounding areas could smile again as their hopes have been revived.

“Shabangu is officially out of the country and his company is not among those that submitted bids and therefore he was not being considered for the new operation at Dvokolwako,” said Ntshalin-tshali.
Among many reasons he cited for the delay of the opening of the mine in 2011, before Roux Consolidated Investment licence was cancelled, was government’s failure to obtain the Kimberly Process Certification. The Kimberley Process Certification Scheme (KPCS) is the process designed to certify the origin of rough diamonds from sources which are free of conflict, funded by diamond production.

Government managed to get the certificate, which meant Swazi-land’s diamonds were free to shine in the world, as they could be exported freely.
At some stage Thembinkosi Mamba, Principal Secretary (PS) in the Ministry of Natural Resources, complained about Shabangu’s delay in starting the diamond project at Dvokolwako, near Manzini, and warned that the government might withdraw his mining permit.

Swazi diamonds at Dvokolwako are found underground hosted by rocks called kimberlite which is characterised by a carrot-shaped pipeline.
The diamond grade is initially high to very high in the near surface and weathered zone. The grade decreases gradually with the depth and size of the pipe.
It was not immediately possible to get comment from Shabangu, who lives in South Africa.

However, recent reports from that country are to the effect that in some of his dealings, he was only a ‘front’ for white investors.

Post your comment

Your name:

Your e-mail address:

Add your comments:

Please enter the code you see in the image:

Image:

Code: