The Murowa

diamond mine There are a limited number of commercially available diamond mines currently operating in the world, with the 50 largest mines accounting for approximately 90% of global supply. Diamonds are also mined alluvially over disperse areas, where dia ...

is a

diamond Diamond is a solid form of the element carbon with its atoms arranged in a crystal structure called diamond cubic. Another solid form of carbon known as graphite is the chemically stable form of carbon at room temperature and pressure, ...

mine Mine, mines, miners or mining may refer to: Extraction or digging * Miner, a person engaged in mining or digging *Mining, extraction of mineral resources from the ground through a mine Grammar *Mine, a first-person English possessive pronoun ...

located in Mazvihwa, south central

Zimbabwe Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and ...

, about 40 kilometres from the asbestos mining town of

Zvishavane Zvishavane (known until 1982 as Shabani) is a mining town in Midlands Province, Zimbabwe. Surrounded by low hills, it lies west of Masvingo, on the main Bulawayo-Masvingo road. Other roads lead from Zvishavane to Gweru, north, and Mberengwa, ...

in the Midlands province. The mine is majority owned and operated by the Rio Tinto Group, which also owns the

Argyle diamond mine The Argyle Diamond Mine was a diamond mine located in the East Kimberley region in the remote north of Western Australia. Argyle was at times the largest diamond producer in the world by volume (14 million carats in 2018), although the propor ...

in Australia and part of the

Diavik Diamond Mine The Diavik Diamond Mine is a diamond mine in the North Slave Region of the Northwest Territories, Canada, about northeast of Yellowknife. Description Diavik Diamond Mine is an industrial complex set in a remote, subarctic landscape. It consis ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

. The mine is a combination of

open pit Open-pit mining, also known as open-cast or open-cut mining and in larger contexts mega-mining, is a surface mining technique of extracting rock or minerals from the earth from an open-air pit, sometimes known as a borrow. This form of minin ...

and underground construction; current estimates put construction costs at $61 million

USD The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official ...

and mine reserves are 19 million

tonne The tonne ( or ; symbol: t) is a unit of mass equal to 1000 kilograms. It is a non-SI unit accepted for use with SI. It is also referred to as a metric ton to distinguish it from the non-metric units of the short ton ( United State ...

s of

ore Ore is natural rock or sediment that contains one or more valuable minerals, typically containing metals, that can be mined, treated and sold at a profit.Encyclopædia Britannica. "Ore". Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Retrieved 7 Apr ...

, with an

ore grade Ore is natural Rock (geology), rock or sediment that contains one or more valuable minerals, typically containing metals, that can be mined, treated and sold at a profit.Encyclopædia Britannica. "Ore". Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Ret ...

of per tonne.

Geology of the Deposit

Murowa consists of three north-trending

kimberlite Kimberlite is an igneous rock and a rare variant of peridotite. It is most commonly known to be the main host matrix for diamonds. It is named after the town of Kimberley in South Africa, where the discovery of an diamond called the Star of S ...

pipes, intrusive into the Chivi suite

granite Granite () is a coarse-grained ( phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies under ...

s of the

Zimbabwe Craton The Zimbabwe Craton is an area in Southern Africa of ancient continental crust, being a part of the ancient continent of Western Gondwana, with rocks dating back to the early Archean Eon, possibly as early as 3.46 billion years ago ( Ga.). The cra ...

. The kimberlites have been dated at 500 Ma.

History

The Murowa site's possibilities were first realized in 1997 when three diamond-bearing

pipes Pipe(s), PIPE(S) or piping may refer to: Objects * Pipe (fluid conveyance), a hollow cylinder following certain dimension rules ** Piping, the use of pipes in industry * Smoking pipe ** Tobacco pipe * Half-pipe and quarter pipe, semi-circula ...

were discovered; over a period of three years of study, the two larger pipes have been determined to be economically feasible as mines. Construction of mine facilities was completed in late 2004. Preparation for mining included the forced relocation of 926 people living on the mine site to six farms purchased by a government relocation program. Limited mining operations began in Murowa in 2004, with full capacity expected to be reached sometime in 2005, although permitting problems have slowed progress toward this milestone. Full-scale production is expected to process 200,000 tonnes of ore annually, although it is possible to push production to as much as one million tonnes annually through further capital investment. The mine is a combination of

and underground construction; current estimates put construction costs at $61 million

. Current estimates of mine reserves are 19 million

s of

, with an

of per tonne. Rio Tinto estimates that over the life of the mine, prices for the Murowa's production will fetch an average price of $65 USD per carat (325 $/g).

References

Rio Tinto Diamonds: Murowa Rough Diamonds
(Retrieved April 15, 2005)
"Murowa Diamond Set To Reach Full Production"

The Financial Gazette ''The Financial Gazette'' is a weekly English language newspaper published in Zimbabwe. The paper, established in 1969, focuses on business, finance, and politics throughout Southern Africa. Headquartered in Harare, the paper also maintains a ...

: February 2, 2005. {{reflist Diamond mines in Zimbabwe Rio Tinto (corporation) subsidiaries Underground mines in Zimbabwe Surface mines in Zimbabwe Diatremes Volcanoes of Zimbabwe Pre-Holocene volcanoes Buildings and structures in Midlands Province Geography of Midlands Province