Rio Tinto say it will resume diamond exports at its Murowa Mine, in Zimbabwe in a “few days” after a government moratorium on sales last May. Reuters quoted the company's managing director Neils Kristensen as saying that they were in touch with the Zimbabwean government over the resumption of exports.

"We have been in communication with the government and we expect to resume (exports) in a few days," Kristensen said.
"Murowa has continued to produce and we have a nice stockpile we want to start selling soon."

The Zimbabwean government banned diamond exports from all the mines in the country until the Kimberley Process (KP) had certified stones from its controversial Marange resource, where it operates two joint venture mines.
However, KP recently allowed the country to export limited diamonds, a move that saw Zimbabwe conduct its first sale on Wednesday.

Rio Tinto, which has a 78 percent in Murowa, produced 124,000 carats last year.
Reuters say Murowa was planning a 300 million USD expansion to lift output to 1.8 million carats per year.

The project was put on ice until the local ownership issue was resolved.
Kristensen was, however, optimistic that the mining industry was close to reaching a deal with the government over the new ownership rules.

Ref: <a href="http://www.rough-polished.com/en/news/41577.html" target="_blank">Rough-Polished.com</a>