Zambia citrine

August 2011
We returned from France with an order for citrine and dioptase. The dioptase mine belongs to us. We have marked the coordinates in the Zambian mining authority and have permission from the local chief to mine in the area. This process takes a couple of months. So the mine belongs to us. You will only be able to get these exotic stones through Silver Hills Gems

We decided to go by truck and trailer because we were in a hurry to get our goods. Early Tuesday morning we set off for Zambia. It is actually only as far as Cape Town but you have to pass through two borders on the way up and drive through Zimbabwe.

We got to Beitbridge border post by midday and it took only minutes to pass through the borderpost on the South African side. On the Zimbabwean side we got our first hick-up. The line was about 3 hours long and we decided to use 'agents' to help us speed up the process. This is a mistake, listen to me, never use these touts. They will cheat and rob you. We quickly found this out. Fall in the back of the line and wait your turn and smile at everybody and say yes sir, thank you sir.

Buying banannas

We only took one and half to pass through but we were minus R1700. They robbed us blind. We quickly found out that the promised insurance document was also missing in the papers. So we set off for Zambia with no vehicle insurance. We just prayed that we will not be stopped and asked for it. We decided to sleep in Masvingo. Once we reached Masvingo we pushed on to Harare. We reached Harare around 11 o'clock at night and started looking for fuel, food and bed. $300 US later we had all 3. The hotel belongs to a well known chain and was fine but a bit jaded around the edges. It is a fact that everybody is still waiting to see what happens in Zimbabwe before investing more money there. They are exchanging the Rand at 1 to 10 to the US dollar there. It is better to have a stash of small denominations of US$ in your pocket when travelling there.

The next morning we set of early for Zambia and stopped on the way to have a look at the Chinhoyi caves. The Chinhoyi Caves are a group of caves near the town of Chinhoyi in Zimbabwe. They are situated about 8 km north of Chinhoyi itself, and 128 km north-west of the capital of Zimbabwe, Harare. The caves are named after a local chief who used them as a refuge from Ndebele raiders.
The cave system is composed of limestone and dolomite, and the descent to the main cave with its pool of cobalt blue water is very impressive. This pool is popularly called Sleeping Pool or Chirorodzira (Pool of the Fallen).
Divers have discovered a submarine passage leading from the Bat Cave, a subchamber of the Dark Cave to another room known as the Blind Cave. Diving is fantastic in the Caves all year round, with temperatures never below or above the 22 - 24 Degrees Celsius marks with zero thermocline. Visibility is fantastic too, 50 metres and above is not unusual.
These caves are the most extensive cave system in Zimbabwe that the public can access. The caves were designated a National Park in 1955 and as such are managed by the Department of National Parks. There is a campsite run by the National Parks and a quiet hotel located there.
 The caves are 345 meters deep and extemely blue. Yes it is the correct colour on the photo. Our legs were very sore for 2 days afterwards due to the steps down and up to the waterhole.

Sitting at the border post taking random photos

At the border between Zimbabwe and Zambia we discovered that we lacked the neccesary paper work to enter Zambia. We have now travelled 1300 km and  we needed a police clearance paper for the vehicle and a letter from the trust saying that we are allowed to use the bakkie. The letter was faxed to me by my office but we had to bribe the corrupt officials to allow us entry into Zambia. We came so far and decided that it is worth the bribe just to be able to buy our stones.

In Zambia we encountered the worst potholes. If you think that the South African potholes are bad you should see the Zambian ones. A vehicle can loose itself in one of these holes. We made it to Lusaka by nightfall. Lusaka was designed with 200 000 cars in mind and now there is 800 000. It is one of the most congested cities in Africa. The infrastructure is not designed for the amount of cars and taxis.

At the Ministry of Mines

It took us a full day to get export papers for the stone. This was done in record time. It can take up to two weeks to get your papers. The person doing your papers must have all their money paid up and taxes up to date otherwise you will not get your papers. My Zambian partner was up to date. This is one of the things that makes it difficult to do business in Zambia. It is just getting the stuff out of the country. It is easy to buy material but very difficult to get it out of the country. It will cost you. In the end our cost were R25 000 to Zambia and back. This has to be added to your goods before you calculate your prices. In many ways it is easier to go to a trade show and buy your goods. You never know if there is stock available in Africa. It is like a huge gamble. You just go and hope for the best.

We were shocked to find out that the diopside mine had a fire and almost 2 tons of specimens were destroyed by fire. This placed great stress on us and we had to mine new stock in a hurry.

The last day we went to town to buy drums. In the centre of town we picked up someone to show us the way to where we can buy drums. We then went back to town to drop the guy and that is when it all happened. Someone opened the drivers door and slammed it shut a couple of times. At the same time they opened the back door and stole our rucksack. Luckily Geran saw it from the corner of his eye and jumped out after the thief. They set off down the street and half a block further the thief saw that he was going to be caught. He dropped the bag and we were fortunate to get our bag back. Our export papers and original vehicle papers were in the bag. This was very stressful.

We bought 960 kg of citrine and stored this at a house in the suburbs of Lusaka. When we weighed the citrine at home we discovered there was only 800 kg. That is Africa. They stole 160 kg at the place where we stored the material.

The citrine will be a new line for wholesale from Silver Hills Gems. We negotiated with the mine owner to buy all his production every month. The next consignment of crystals and citrine will be here at the end of September.

Serious conversation with a miner. Gerdus himself

Going back was uneventful. But I must tell you it is a long and arduous trip to Zambia and back. At every border they will test you to the limits. In Zambia itself you have to know your prices. They will take your money and laugh at your stupidity if you do not know your prices.

We have already sold all 800 kg of the citrine and the diopside we brought along. Thank you for all of you that bought from us wholesale. Please enquire in time and place your order for the new stock before they come. We have been doing some marketing to customers overseas and I can tell you that many of them have placed orders already.

Blessings
Gerdus