Zimbabwe’s Reserve Bank accumulated about 300,000 carats of diamonds, which were collected from mining companies obligated to pay 50% of royalties in processed minerals, Bank Governor John Mangudya said on Sunday.
"Since the introduction of the policy, we have collected about 300,000 carats of diamonds, while our gold reserves are around 350kg [771 pounds]. This translates to US$20 million worth of gold in our reserves," Mangudya told Zimbabwean newspaper.
He noted that calculating the value of diamonds was hard, as there is no single universal price for them.
The scheme aimed at increasing the country’s mineral reserves was introduced in October, the news outlet reported. Gold, diamond, lithium and platinum mining companies fell under the new legislation. Companies working with metals are allowed to pay in cash, with which the bank buys gold for the reserves, according to the report.
In 2021, Zimbabwe mined over 4 million carats of diamonds. In 2022, the country was the world’s seventh-largest producer of diamonds and accounted for 3% of global production.