The accusations against Petra and the mine operator Williamson Diamond Limited (WDL) included reports of personal injuries and deaths at the diamond mine, allegedly caused by security guards.
Petra said it has been investigating those allegations as well as similar accusations brought forwards by RAID, a UK-based NGO, based on research conducted between September 2019 and November 2020.
The diamond miner revealed on Tuesday it had since received reports of continuing incidents involving security operations at its Williamson mine carried out between November 2020 and January 2021.
In those three months, Petra said, there have been 79 recorded incursions onto the mine property, involving approximately 1,091 illegal diggers. The company found that, in most cases (60 of the 79 incidents), security guards did not react violently despite the illegal diggers becoming aggressive in 8 of those 60 incidents.
In 19 of these incidents, Petra said “reasonable force” was required to remove or disperse illegal miners from Williamson premises or for the security patrol teams to defend themselves.
“Live ammunition was only discharged on one occasion during November 2020, when the Tanzanian Police fired one live warning round in the air to disperse a group of illegal diggers,” the miner said in the statement. “The largest group of illegal diggers recorded in a single incident was approximately 150 and in all of the incidents where force was required, the diggers were aggressive and armed with slingshots and rocks.
The company added that in the incidents that required the use of force, nine members of the security patrol team were injured, but no illegal miners were reported hurt.
“It is of course possible that some of these diggers may have been injured in these engagements [but] It has been confirmed that no patients were received at the Mwadui hospital with injuries consistent with those which might be sustained by illegal diggers during this period,” it said.
More to come…
