Diamond company Paragon has been granted licenses to search for rough diamonds in the southern African nation of Zambia, Rough and Polished reports. The country's Mines Development Department gave Paragon the go-ahead to seek out gemstones in six different locations in the Mpika district.

The Zambia concessions bequeath on Paragon the right to explore for two years with the option of annual renewals, plus the ability to build a diamond processing plant on site if necessary within five years' time.

Between four and five decades ago, De Beers conducted initial tests in the area and found laproites which bore diamonds, but the potential of these was never tapped, according to Rough and Polished.

Paragon also operates the Lemphane diamond mine in Lesotho and is about a quarter of the way through a 35,000-ton bulk sampling operation there, in an effort to determine if the kimberlite contains siginificant quantities of diamonds.