Tanzania seizes diamonds from Petra Diamonds

The Tanzanian government has confiscated diamonds worth nearly $30m after accusing British company Petra Diamonds of having declared a lower value when trying to export the gems. Finance minister Philip Mpango said the diamonds extracted from the Williamson Diamonds mine had been “nationalized”. The mine is 75% owned by Petra Diamonds, with the remaining stake held by the Tanzanian state. According to Tanzanian authorities, the documents from Williamson Diamonds estimated the value of the shipment at $14.7m based on a lower declared weight, while in fact they were worth double that.

The allegations contained in the documents mirror a gold export probe launched by Tanzanian President John Magufuli earlier this year as part of a major overhaul of Tanzania’s mining industry. That investigation has taken such heavy toll on Barrick Gold-owned Acacia Mining (LON:ACA), that the company decided this week to reduce operations in the country.