The Center for Research and Development (CRD) has issued a statement welcoming the Zimbabwe government's investigation into the conditions under which the Canadile Miners venture was awarded a diamond mining license in 2009. The CRD has always held the position that mining tenders for the Marange diamond fields were awarded without following due procedure.

"A serious commitment to transparency and accountability in the diamond sector will set Zimbabwe on the highway to a speedy economic recovery," the CRD statement said, adding that Zimbabwe's neighbors, Botswana and Namibia, had demonstrated that "with political will… diamonds can shape the economy of a nation."

Last week, news outlets reported that Zimbabwean police had arrested six officials reportedly connected to fraud in the country's already-controversial Marange fields.

Following allegations that the Core Mining & Minerals company was failing to meet its $2 billion financial obligations and to explore for diamonds in the Chiadzwa region – in addition to trafficking in conflict diamonds – the government took over the Canadile Miners diamond mining operation, which had been a joint venture between Core and the Zimbabwe Mining Development Corporation (ZMDC).

The officials arrested include a Zimbabwean representative of the South African-owned Core and five officials from the ZMDC.

In addition, ZMDC Chairman Goodwills Masirembwa has blacklisted all 12 of Core's directors from conducting business in Zimbabwe.