The Minister of Mineral Resources and Energy, Carlos Zacarias, yesterday in the city of Chimoio, Manica province, inaugurated the first trading hub for the certification of diamonds, precious stones and gems, where the Kimberley Process Precious Metals and Gemstone Management Unit also operates.

Zacarias announced that more such hubs, able to certify diamonds, precious stones and gems will be installed in the country, to facilitate the legal circulation of these products in the market.

Government action is also galvanised by the international context, which establishes an international mechanism that allows the sale, in the legal circuit, of diamonds and precious stones that have been extracted legally through certification, as a way of preventing the commercialization of the so-called “blood diamonds”, produced in war zones and intended to fuel conflicts.

The newly inaugurated Kimberley Process Unit’s ‘Entreposto Comercial de Manica’ will allow the export or import of rough diamonds, precious metals and gems in the province, in particular, and in the country in general, the minister said. Carlos Zacarias further stressed that, through these trading hubs, MIREME intends to guarantee that the evaluation, weighing, sealing and issuance of the certificate of origin and authorization for the export of mineral products are carried out.

“With this act, we are laying the cornerstone for the start of more structuring undertakings, mainly in the field of adding value to our mineral resources within the country, which will boost industrial and economic development,” the Minister of Mineral Resources and Energy said.

Through the Kimberley Process, Precious Metals and Gems Management Unit, the Mozambican Ministry of Mineral Resources and Energy (MIREME) has been implementing a vast infrastructure installation and modernization program to respond to the growing demand for export services of precious metals and gems.

Carlos Zacarias therefore exhorted operators in the precious metals and gems subsector to henceforth enjoy the services and all the facilities that will be provided in the commercial warehouses, fully equipped to serve local companies.

The new trading hub houses technical brigades comprising experts from the Ministries of Mineral Resources and Energy, of Industry and Commerce, of Economy and Finance through the Tax Authority, and of the Interior through the Police for the Protection of Natural Resources and Environment.

The Manica warehouse is the first of three that the government will install for the certification of diamonds, precious stones and gems produced in the country, with a view to the legal circulation of these products in the international market.

The Executive Secretary of the Kimberley Process Precious Metals and Gems Management Unit at MIREME, Castro Elias, said that the introduction of the three hubs is part of the actions that the Mozambican government is developing in the context of adherence to the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme.

“We are going to have ‘entrepostos’ in Maputo, Manica and Nampula with the aim of bringing and controlling all the production of diamonds, precious stones and gems, to be checked, sealed, certified and exported,” Elias told journalists.

Explaining the practical aspects, Elias said that the trading hubs will work as “a single window”, because all the necessary services for certification will be present in these structures, mainly Customs services and inspection of mineral resources, he added. From another perspective, the installation of the said services also aims to prevent Mozambique from being used as a corridor for diamonds illegally extracted in other countries.

The official stated that mobile brigades will be created for cases involving producers who are far from the ‘entrepostos’, with a view to verifying the origin and certification of all diamonds, precious metals and gems.

The Kimberley Process Certification Scheme only requires the certification of diamonds, but Mozambique wants to go further, also submitting the international certification of precious stones and gems, especially since it was admitted to the Kimberley Process.

“We currently have 47 prospecting and research licences and 78 requests that are going through their legal procedures to obtain prospecting and research licences. We already had some companies on the ground doing the research, but they had to stop because they couldn’t export their samples for analysis,” Elias explained.

Elias stressed that the Kimberley Process only requires the certification of diamonds, but Mozambique wants to go further, also submitting to international certification other precious stones and gems so as to reinforce market confidence in relation to Mozambican production.

The introduction of these services will also help prevent Mozambique being used as a corridor for diamonds illegally extracted in other countries.

“We are going to have trading hubs in Maputo, Manica and Nampula with the aim of bringing in and controlling all the production of diamonds, precious stones and gems, to be verified, sealed, certified and exported,” Elias said in statements to journalists.