By:Miningweekly

Aim-listed Vast Resources has announced the release of the historical diamond parcel that has been held in safe custody at the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe by order of that country’s Supreme Court since early 2010.

The diamonds are now in the company’s custody and have been despatched to its nominated tender house in Dubai, to be cleaned and re-sorted for the sales process, which is expected to begin within a month.

Upon completion of the sale of the rough diamonds, royalties, fees to Minerals Marketing Corporation of Zimbabwe, legal fees, auction fees, security and marketing, could reach about 20% of the gross rough diamond value of the parcels, Vast points out.

“This release of the historical diamond parcel not only represents a landmark success for the company, but underlines that Zimbabwe is truly open for business for companies that wish to comply with due process,” Vast states.

The company highlights that the individual parcels remained untouched for over 15 years.

A valuation estimate will be provided following the completion of the cleaning and re-sorting process, which would enable an accurate assessment of the carat value of the diamonds, as this is not possible in their current condition, it explains.

Notwithstanding this, initial inspection of the contents of the parcels has exceeded expectations of the company’s management, Vast avers.

“After personally spending more than one of the past four years in Zimbabwe to facilitate the release of the historical diamond parcel, I would like to give special thanks to His Excellency Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa; the Minister of Mines; the Attorney General, the Governor of the Reserve Bank; the Minerals Marketing Corporation of Zimbabwe; Titan Law; and the exceptional legal team at Dube, Manikai and Hwacha,” Vast CEO Andrew Prelea says.

“Now that this chapter has closed, the company is re-engaging our future investment strategy in Zimbabwe and has commenced discussions for further mining concessions in-country alongside the advancement of our wider portfolio in Romania and Tajikistan.

“We now expect to be able to approach new opportunities from a different perspective which will set the tone for the company’s future,” he adds.

Vast started with legal proceedings on the release of the diamonds in December 2022. The Zimbabwe Independent previously reported that the diamonds “were surrendered as evidence that the mining firm had exploited diamonds on claims previously owned by De Beers”.