Two months on, no buyer yet for the Mwadui mine

Dar es Salaam. Petra Diamonds Ltd (PDL) has said that it has  yet to receive an offer even after launching the Formal Sale Process of the Petra Group including the Williamson Diamond Mine (WDM) in Mwadui, Kishapu District, Shinyanga Region.

This is despite having announced the offer in June this year.
Even if offers are received, they might not be accepted by PDL if they are not in the best interest of Petra’s stakeholders.

PDL said yesterday that it will engage its stakeholders, who include the government, when it gets an offer for its existing stake in the Williamson mine. The company further said it will adhere to all its obligations, including the rights of other stakeholders.

This comes in the wake of the Tanzania’s government halting a plan by the International Diamond “Petra Diamonds” to sell off the Williamson Diamond Mine (WDM) in Mwadui on July 5
The government had issued a five-day ultimatum to the mine’s hierarchy to explain why they reached such a decision without consulting them.

In tandem with putting to hold the selling plan, the government which owns 25 per cent of the company’s shares, annulled the decision to send home employees due poor business performance in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The directive came a few days after Petra Diamonds announced that it had put up its Tanzanian mine for sale.

However,   Petra Diamonds corporate communications manager  Cathy Malins said the Formal Sale Process announcement, confirms that the sale process relates to the wider Petra group and not specifically to the Williamson mine.

“Despite performing well operationally in recent years, a weak diamond market in 2019 combined with the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020 has led to the Petra group’s debt being too high,” she said.

She said, the company is therefore undergoing a strategic review in order to evaluate the optimal capital structure for the long-term sustainability of the business.