(IDEX Online News) – Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe announced recently that his government will take possession of all the country’s diamond operations “because existing miners had robbed the country of its wealth,” according to a report on Reuters.

There had been some uncertainty about what the Zimbabwean government intended to do with the mines, after mines minister Walter Chidhakwa informed several mining companies last month that their licenses had not been renewed and that they must cease operation.

“Companies that have been mining diamonds have robbed us of our wealth. That is why we have now said the state must have a monopoly,” Mugabe said in an interview with state broadcaster ZBC TV.

Two of the banned companies, Maranage, Mbada Diamonds and Chinese-run Anjin Investments, challenged the government’s original ban in the High Court. The court allowed Marange to take control of its assets.

Zimbabwe’s importance to the global diamond trade is believed to be on the wane. According to the Kimberley Process, the country was the eighth largest diamond producer in 2014. It is believed, however, that the most easily reached alluvial material has been almost exhausted, and the mining firms who had licenses were unwilling to make the investments required for further exploration.