In a press release from Wednesday (September 27) Petra Diamonds announced that it has received authorization from the Tanzanian government to resume diamond exports and sales from the Williamson mine in Tanzania.
According to the miner, “the exact timing and process for the next diamond parcel export to Petra’s marketing office in Antwerp and subsequent sale will now be finalized between the Company” and the government. Petra added that “a resolution has not yet been reached with regards to the parcel of 71,654.45 carats from Williamson that was blocked for export”.
Tanzanian officials at Dar es Salaam airport confiscated a Petra consignment of 71,645-carat of diamonds on August 31. The diamonds were sourced from the Williamson mine, of which Petra owns 75%, and the government the remaining 25%. The diamonds were being exported to Antwerp, but Tanzanian officials claim they had been undervalued. Petra, on its end, stated that it was not responsible for the provisional evaluation of the stones.
