Zimbabwe continues to both fascinate and frustrate. Its full mining potential has hardly been touched and ongoing disputes over ownership and certification, added to the impact of sanctions, continue to disrupt production. M J Morgan examines the key issues.

Zimbabwe has the world’s second-largest reserves of platinum and chrome as well as substantial gold, coal, diamonds and nickel deposits. But the process of realising that vast mineral endowment remains politically hamstrung. There have been allegations of secret diamond mining at the Charleswood Estate. Mines Minister Obert Mpofu has accused De Beers of covertly mining on the site and ‘stealing’ millions of dollars’ worth of diamonds over the past 15 years.

Then there are the contested Chiadzwa diamonds, 129,400 carats of which have been moved, contrary to the Supreme Court’s express ruling, from the Reserve Bank to the Minerals Marketing Corporation of Zimbabwe (MMCZ). This leaves open the possibility that Minister Mpofu could be found in contempt of court. The contracts under which Mbada Diamond Investments and Canadile Miners were operating in Chiadzwa, where some two million carats have been extracted, have been described as, at best, as opaque. The diamonds mined there have not been Kimberley Process (KP) certified. Mbada is a joint venture between the MMCZ and South African miner Grandwell.

Two senior officials of Canadile are currently under arrest. Further complications arise regarding the precise ownership of the diamonds as African Consolidated Resources (ACR) have laid claim to them and have had the courts rule in their favour. Although the government has stated that the courts are unlikely to acknowledge ACR’s claim as legitimate in the wake of the government’s forthcoming appeal, the Supreme Court has ordered all mining activity on the site to cease, lest these activities prejudice the position of either party after the final judgment is made. President Robert Mugabe’s recent birthday interview revealed that the MMCZ holds quantities of diamonds – which may or may not be KP certified – and in contradiction to the position of the Supreme Court. Although that decision is subject to appeal, it is currently unambiguous.

The implications for the rule of law are profound. Where the diamonds should be held is a matter that might justly be contested, but the failure of parties to respect the decision of the courts could cast a pall on Zimbabwe as it enters a new phase in its history