According to an article by the Herald on allafrica.com, 40 workers have been fired from the Chiadzwa diamond mine for allegedly allowing panners to loot precious stones.

It appears that the panners were paying the company’s security workers off in order to gain access into the diamond fields after dark. The panners then worked until dawn and hid in the pits, intending to leave the fields the following night, undiscovered.

However, luck soon ran out for the rogues when they were discovered by chance by a worker who had been assigned to fill the very same pits the panners were hiding in, for unrelated reasons. After being handed over to the police, the security workers involved in the bribe were promptly fired from their duties.

The diamond mine, recently licensed by the government to be mined by companies Canadile Miners and Mbada Mining (Pvt) Ltd, is expecting additional investors to join those already on the ground. Over US$10 has already been pumped into mine operations by Canadile Miners to date.