The Zimbabwe Miners' Federation (ZMF) is urging the country's government to allow small-scale miners to explore for diamonds in areas of the country believed to contain large diamond deposits.

According to a report in the Zimbabwe Chronicle, ZMF President Trinos Nkomo said his organization believed that Zimbabwe held diamond deposits that had yet to be identified, although recent reports have indicated the presence of three new diamond fields at Binga, on the shore of Lake Kariba; in Masvingo, on the road to South Africa; and in Tsholotsho in western Zimbabwe.

"To demystify such claims, the government should allow people to explore areas suspected to have gemstone deposits," Nkomo told the paper, adding that exploration by small-scale diamond companies should be permitted until the government conducted a formal survey of the areas in question.