Tanzania's diamond production and diamond exports, while slated to drop over the course of 2011 because of development work being carried out on the Williamson Mine, are expected to rebound and reach new heights in the near term, Tanzania's The Citizen reports.

Petra Diamonds, which owns Williamson, plans to increase its diamond production to 600,000 carats per year.

In 2009, a year still affected by the global financial crisis, Tanzania exported 181,873 carats of rough diamonds with a combined value of $24.78 million, an average per-carat price of $136.26.

Tanzania's mineral wealth is not limited to diamonds. The country has vast resources of coal, cobalt, nickel, uranium, and is Africa's fourth-largest producer of gold – which in recent months has hit near-record prices in international trading. Gold comprises the country's most significant mining sector, and African Barrick Gold is the largest miner of the precious metal.

According to a recent report by Business Monitor International (BMI), Tanzania's mining industry as a whole is expected to see average growth of 7.7% a year over the next five years.