A diamond cutting and polishing factory will soon be established in the Zimbabwean capital of Harare, Rough and Polished reports. The state-owned Zimbabwe Mining Development Corporation stated in a printed prospect distributed at last week's Mining Indaba that it plans to establish a factory which will cut 3,000 carats of rough diamonds every month. According to the literature, the factory would ramp up its production capacity to 4,500 carats per month after a year of operation.

The ZMDC noted that the cost to build the factory would be just over $6 million, and that $12.5 million would be required to procure the rough diamonds to be cut there, according to Rough and Polished.

Just over half a year ago, Zimbabwe's previous Mines Minister Obert Mpofu announced that the government would advance legislation which would see diamond companies operating in the country pay taxes on a sliding scale. According to the scheme, the more beneficiation activities performed on the stones inside Zimbabwe, the lower a percentage the firm would have to pay in taxes to the state.