Belgian authorities seized Zimbabwean diamonds awaiting an auction in Antwerp following a court order giving a South African mining company the right to be compensated for a lost concession.About 500,000 ounces worth roughly $45 million and belonging to companies with Zimbabwean state shareholdings were seized on Sept. 12 following an attachment order obtained by Amari Holdings Ltd. to enforce a ruling in a Paris-based court of arbitration, Amari said in an e-mailed reply to questions.The dispute will be adjudicated by a judge in Zambia tomorrow, Zimbabwean Mines Minister Walter Chidakwa said yesterday in Parliament. He questioned why Amari was able to attach the diamonds even though the dispute was with the state-ownedZimbabwe Mining Development Corp.“Those companies therefore cannot be punished for the sins of ZMDC,” Chidakwa said. “I think at law you cannot say because ZMDC is the shareholder of a certain legal entity then you punish that entity. InBelgium you can go to a court and seek an order even without a response of those you are seeking an order against.”The dispute stems from Amari’s departure from Zimbabwe in 2010, when the government canceled its right to operate its Serui platinum concession on the Great Dyke, a range of hills that runs down the center of the country, after the company had spent millions of dollars exploring it and identifying an economically viable resource of 18 million ounces of platinum group metals, the company said.Amari’s project “did not succeed because of many reasons including non-performance,” Chidakwa said. The cancellation was unwarranted, according to Amari.
Posted on: Fri, 19 Sep 2014 09:47:21 +0000
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