Rio Tinto sells Zimbabwe diamond, coal assets to quit market

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Global mining giant Rio Tinto on Friday said it has agreed to sell all its stakes in Zimbabwe’s diamond and coal mines to local entities and focus on the group’s core businesses elsewhere.

diamond
diamond

The transaction will see Rio Tinto sell 78 percent of shares of Murowa diamond mine and 50 percent of shares of Sengwa coal fields to private group RZ Murowa Holdings Limited, according to a company statement. The amount of the transaction was not disclosed. RioZim, a listed local independent mining firm that has holdings in both Murowa diamond mine and Sengwa coal fields, will assume the overall management of both entities.
“Rio Tinto believes that the future of these assets can be best managed by entities with existing interests in Zimbabwe,” Rio Tinto Diamonds and Minerals chief executive Alan Davies said in the statement.
“Rio Tinto remains committed to the diamond industry and is focused on operating its two world-class underground mines whilst obtaining the approvals for its advanced diamond project in India. ”
Murowa diamond mine produced 442,000 carats of diamond in 2014, 6 percent above the output in 2013. Zimbabwe’s overall diamond output fell by 34 percent to 5.9 million carats in 2014 due to depletion in alluvial deposits in the country’s major Marange diamond fields. Enditem

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