Top South African engineers have been roped in at Dvokolwako diamond mine to conduct an assessment and compile a database of the mine, a process known as the Kimberly process aimed at preventing conflicts and wars normally associated with diamond mining.

The team of engineers is expected to finish this exercise next month, shareholder Percy Mawelela disclosed. South African businessman Roux Shabangu is chairperson of the mining investment at Dvokolwako Mine and local shareholders are Peter Mawelela and Ngatana Dlamini. The Dvokolwako mine has been registered as Roux Mining and was named after the South African businessman.

The engineers will provide a general overview of the mine, with information like how much diamond deposits are still left in the mine; the type of mud that is below the surface and the amount of underground water. The experts are also expected to advise the new mine owners about the type of machinery that they should purchase for excavations. It was also explained that diamond samples found at the mine are currently taken to South Africa for testing and profiling.

Mawelela explained that before fully fledged mining activities could begin at Dvokolwako, proprietors were expected to have conducted a full assessment of the mine and should also have conformed to the Kimberly Process that guides the mining of diamonds worldwide.

Companies

"Like all diamond mining companies in the world, Dvokolwako Mine is expected to adhere to the strict rules provided by the Kimberly Process before it can officially operate," Dlamini stated.

The shareholders explained that the reason engineers had been engaged to provide a new assessment of the mine was because the previous company that operated mine did not leave an assessment with government. “The Department of Geology and Mines does not have information about the Dvokolwako mine because the previous operator did not leave information about its condition. Mining laws state that an assessment should be conducted and handed over to the Geology Department, which is what we are doing now”.

Government granted a 20-year-lease to Roux Mining to operate the Dvokolwako Mine. The local shareholders sounded optimistic that once the engineers were done with the assessments in October, fully fledged activities would begin at the mine.

Established

The rigorous Kimberley Process (KP) was established to prevent diamond sales from funding conflict popularly known as 'blood diamonds'. KP is an international governmental certification scheme that was set up to prevent the trade in diamonds that fund conflict. Launched in January 2003, the scheme requires governments to certify that shipments of rough diamonds are conflict-free.

The KP process began in 1998 when Global Witness launched a campaign to expose the role of diamonds in funding conflict, as part of broader research into the link between natural resources and conflict. In response to growing international pressure from Global Witness and other NGOs, the major diamond trading and producing countries, representatives of the diamond industry, and NGOs met in Kimberley, South Africa to determine how to tackle the blood diamond problem. The meeting, hosted by the South African government, was the start of an often contentious three-year negotiating process, which culminated in the establishment of an international diamond certification scheme. The Kimberley Process was endorsed by the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) and the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) and launched in January 2003.