RAPAPORT… The Kimberley Process Working Group for Monitoring (WGM) has agreed to release a shipment of Marange diamonds being held in Dubai. Sources involved in the discussions in Kinshasa in June told Rapaport News that the decision relates to $157 million worth of Marange rough, but they added that not necessarily would all available goods be eligible for release.
The goods were sold between November 4, 2010, at the conclusion of the Jerusalem plenary meeting, and November 17 when then chairman Boaz Hirsch clarified the Kimberley Process position on Zimbabwe’s Marange rough. “This was a period where there may have been confusion regarding the status of Marange diamonds, so we decided to clear the relevant goods for export,” the source explained.
He added that authorities are currently checking the Kimberley Process certificates to ensure the goods were sold during the relevant period.
The Kimberley Process again failed to reach consensus in June over the Marange rough export issue, prompting chairman Mathieu Yamba to unilaterally approve exports from the mining area anyway. The WGM decision was made independent of Yamba’s approval as a number of the group’s members, including the U.S., Canada and Israel, have not endorsed Yamba’s decision.