Vast Resources and Botswana Diamonds sign agreement on exploitation of diamonds in Zimbabwe
Vast Resources plc, the AIM-listed mining company with operating mines in Romania and Zimbabwe has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Botswana Diamonds plc under which the two companies have agreed to exchange information derived from past exploration on areas prospective for diamonds in Zimbabwe and to form a special purpose jointly owned company for the purpose of developing and exploiting diamond resources in Zimbabwe.
Any exploitation of diamonds in Zimbabwe will be carried out in accordance with Zimbabwe's joint ownership laws in relation to diamonds.
As announced on 19 September 2008 the Company acquired at that time a database related to diamonds in Zimbabwe. It has also, until 2010, carried out its own exploration in the field using information from the database.
Botswana Diamonds has independently acquired a Zimbabwe diamond database and has expertise in diamond exploration, development and mining. In particular, it has access to technology relating to extracting diamonds from hard rock.
Andrew Prelea, Chief Executive of Vast Resources, commented:"As a result of the new government's desire to open up business in Zimbabwe we believe the time has now come for us to make use of our historic diamond knowledge with a view to bringing value for all stakeholders in developing Zimbabwe's diamond resources. We are delighted to be working with Botswana Diamonds in order to achieve this."
