Africa Mining Industry: Angola gets US$1.2 billion from diamonds sale

Diamond production in Angola, until November, earned the country US$1.2 billion, the Angolan minister of Geology and Mining said in Luanda according to Angolan news agency, Angop. Francisco Queirós said that with the current results, the diamond industry was expected to reach almost 100 percent of its annual sales target.

The Geology and Mining Minister said that the production target for 2014 was US$1.3 billion.

Queirós also said in Luanda that the sales of ornamental stone totalled US$8.3 million.

He said that by November production totalled 48.016 cubic metres, accounting for about 94 percent of the annual target.

This year Angola started an aero-geophysical survey to identify its geological mineral zones and to date has overflown 361,604 linear kilometres.

Preliminary results of the survey will be announced in the first six months of 2015 and the first scientific information should be available by the end of the year. (macauhub/AO)