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Zaire Diamonds
In 1992 Zaire was the world's third largest producer of
industrial diamonds after Australia, which became the
largest
producer in 1986, and Botswana, which surpassed Zaire in
1992
because of Zaire's reduced production. In 1984 and 1985,
Zaire
accounted for nearly 30 percent of world production,
dropping to
about 26 percent in 1986 as new Australian mine production
came on
stream. Diamond production occurs in the Kasai-Occidental
and
Kasai-Oriental regions, mostly around the regional capital
of
Kasai-Oriental, Mbuji-Mayi, near Tshikapa, and in Lodja,
about 300
kilometers north of Mbuji-Mayi. In 1993 there were also
reports
that diamond deposits had been discovered in Équateur
Region, in
Haut-Zaïre Region, and in southern Bandundu Region along
the
Angolan border. Diamond ore in Zaire yields about 6 carats
per
cubic meter. Although Zaire mines both gem quality and
industrial
diamonds, 90 percent of production is of industrial
quality.
Bakwanga Mining Company (Société Minière de
Bakwanga--Miba),
the state-owned mining concession in Kasai-Oriental
Region,
produces much of the country's total export in diamonds,
from
alluvial deposits near Mbuji-Mayi and from kimberlite
deposits. The
Miba concession covers 62,000 square kilometers. Miba's
production
is marketed by a subsidiary of the South African company
DeBeers,
with whom the government has negotiated a guaranteed price
per
carat. Thousands of individuals also mine for gold, many
of them
illegally mining the huge Miba concession, whose
perimeters are
difficult to patrol.
Because of their value on the international market,
diamonds
have long been smuggled extensively in Zaire. Diamond
smuggling
spread quickly in the early 1960s. By the late 1970s, the
amount of
diamonds smuggled was believed to equal nearly 70 percent
of
official production (5.5 million carats smuggled; official
production was almost 8.1 million carats). Smuggling
decreased
following the legalization of artisanal diamond mining in
1983 and
the establishment of official, licensed purchasing
counters to buy
and market artisanal production; official production
increased
correspondingly. But by 1987 there were already
indications that
smuggling was once again on the increase, and it soared in
the
troubled early 1990s.
In the first eleven months of 1991, Miba exported an
estimated
9.6 million carats. The artisanal purchasing counters
accounted for
an additional 7.2 million carats. Actual output was much
higher
than the official combined total of 16.8 million carats,
as a
result of extensive large-scale smuggling. Reportedly,
many of the
smuggled diamonds originate from the artisanal counters,
aided by
high-level government collusion.
The figures for 1991 diamond exports were lower than
the 18
million carats produced in 1990 because of the country's
chaotic
situation, including factors such as looting and flight
out of the
country by diamond traders. Zairian diamond production in
1992 was
estimated at just 15 million carats. Despite its decline,
the
diamond industry remains vital to the Zairian economy--and
to the
Mobutu regime--because it is widely regarded as the
country's last
remaining source of hard currency. A large portion of
Miba's
official revenues--US$46.3 million in 1991--are believed
to go
directly to Mobutu's coffers. Moreover, diamond dealers
pay Zaire's
central bank 1.5 percent of their official total exports,
estimated
at US$185 million in 1991. Illicit trade in the 1990s was
estimated
to be as much as twice the officially recorded
transactions, but it
was not known how much Mobutu profited from the
unregistered
diamond trade.
Data as of December 1993
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