Global mining colossus Rio Tinto has sold its 78 percent stake in Murowa Diamonds and its 50 percent holding in coal mining operation Sengwa Colliery Ltd. for an undisclosed sum to RZ Murowa Holdings Ltd. of Zimbabwe.
Independent Zimbabwean mining company RioZim Ltd. owns 22 percent of Murowa Diamonds and half of Sengwa and will take over the management of both mines.
Foreign investors have been concerned at comments by Zimbabwe government officials, and the proposed merger of the country's diamond mining operations into a single firm in which the government would hold 50 percent.
Alan Davies, CEO of Rio Tinto Diamonds and Minerals, said, “Rio Tinto remains committed to the diamond industry and is focused on operating its two world-class underground mines while obtaining the approvals for its advanced diamond project in India.”
Rio Tinto owns 100 percent of the Argyle diamond mine in Australia, and a 60-percent holding in the Diavik diamond mine in Canada. The firm has discovered a cluster of eight diamondiferous pipes at the Bunder project in the state of Madhya Pradesh, India.
