Africa Mining: Diamond production in Angola reaches 7.2 million carats last year

Diamond production of the Catoca Mining Society reached 7.2 million carats in 2016, announced the general manager of the company, in statements made Sunday in Saurimo, capital of Lunda Sul province.

In a message to employees, the Director-General Sergei Amelin said the lower prices of diamonds on the international market prevented the company achieving the financial results originally planned.

The Catoca Mining Society is an Angolan company for exploration, recovery and sale of diamonds, made up of Empresa Nacional de Angola Diamonds (Endiama), Alrosa (Russia), LLV (China) and Odebrecht (Brazil), responsible for extraction of more than 75% of Angolan diamonds.

In addition to the Catoca kimberlite, which operates in Lunda Sul, the company has a majority stake in concessions such as the ones at Luemba, Gango, Quitúbia, Luangue, Vulege, Tcháfua and Luaxe.

In recent statements, the minister of Geology and Mining of Angola, Francisco Queirós, said that diamonds provided Angola with income totalling US$1.082 billion in 2016, a drop of 8.45% compared to US$1.182 million recorded in 2015, with a production total of 8.934 million carats.

The minister, summarising the sector’s performance last year, said the decrease was due mainly to the considerable decline in artisanal production, which recorded a drop of almost 60% year on year.

The Angolan Minister of Geology and Mining of Angola considered that, despite this slight decline in production and gross revenues, the diamond sub-sector continues to show “strong sustainable performance, offering a good outlook for substantial recovery in the coming years.” (Source: macauhub-MZ)