A Work in Progress: Swaziland Diamonds

Swaziland, known officially as the Kingdom of Swaziland, is a country in Southern Africa. Although abundant in minerals – mainly coal, gold, kaolin and silica – commercial production of diamonds has been nonexistent in Swaziland in the last 20 years. In 2011, the country entered the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme.

The only major active diamond mine in Swaziland, the Dvokolwako mine, was closed in 2006 as it was found unviable.

However, in a piece on the Swazi Observer from July 2015, it was reported that Swaziland is making “the necessary procedures and certification needed for diamond mining” to allow for renewed mining at Dvokolwako. The same source published a piece on the subject earlier, in March 2015, saying that the government is expecting investors in Dvokolwako within six months. Commissioner of Mines Samuel Ntshalintshali was quoted as saying that Dvokolwako mine had “at least 15 years production life”.