Zimbabwe’s Minister of Mines Winston Chitando has said that the government will consider aplications for exemption of diamond and platinum mining projects from current laws related to ownership by black citizens on a case to case basis, according to reports in the local media.

Currently, in Zimbabwe, mining projects in these sectors are governed by a requirement for black citizens of the country to own a minimum stake of 51%, the reports added. The law earlier applied to other mining sectors too, but all minerals with the exception of diamonds and platinum were recently excluded from its purview.

The minister said in a media interview that companies would have to present proposals that are based on their “different circumstances”, adding that the government would not be “prescriptive”.

Stating that the law “provides for flexibility”, he asked companies to present a plan to achieve compliance, which should be “acceptable to the government”.