Africa-Press – Lesotho. The Ministry of Mining has ventured into a journey of collecting illicit diamonds from Basotho, where so far over 70 diamonds have been collected across the country.
This follows the Precious Stones bill released by the government of Lesotho aimed at preventing the illicit sale and theft of diamonds. The Ministry of Mining Public Relations Officer (PRO) ‘Makananelo Motseko explained
that after the amnesty bill was released in November 2020, the ministry started making announcement to the public that all people who have diamonds with them,
but no proper documentations should hand them over to the ministry. She said the amnesty bill comes to an end on January 31st 2021. “The amnesty bill says that they should hand them over to
the ministry and they will not be prosecuted,” she said. She noted that this is the first time the government passes this amnesty bill. She said they selected the districts in the north being Mokhotlong, Butha-Buthe and
Leribe, adding that they will include Maseru and Mafeteng in the collection. Motseko said according to their researches, these districts have people who own
diamonds illegally and they discovered that those diamonds are floating in the black market. She said some of those who have so far handed them over to the ministry said they dug those diamonds years back at mines like
Kao. The Mining PRO said as the ministry goes around to gather them, they are escorted by specialists who test with their machines to see if they are real
diamonds or not. “Even those people who are not sure if their diamonds are real, they are welcome to come and test them for free,” she said. She further emphasized that this initiative is done as a preparation for Artisanal
and Small Scale Mining (ASM) which refers to mining with minimal or no mechanization, saying this is the ministry’s initiative which is soon to be implemented.
Motseko noted that after gathering those diamonds, they are going to be auctioned for diamond mining companies either locally or internationally. She explained that the auction is going to take place in the presence of the
diamonds’ owners for them to witness the amount they are bought at. Motseko said the government is only entitled to take 4% of the auction price while the
owners are subject to the remaining 96%. She further said issuing of diamonds dealers licenses to venture into ASM will then follow after the auction as soon
as the Parliament has passed the bill and amended the ASM. “The Parliament was closed before the amendment was done,” she said. She said diamond dealers
licenses will also offer small scale miners the platform to trade to international buyers. Motseko said the movement is intended to allow ASM to start on a clean page without the presence of illicit diamonds that the government will not be able to trace.
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