Africa Mining: Angola’s largest diamond company expects production of 7 million carats

Sociedade Mineira da Catoca (SMC) expects to produce 7 million carats of diamonds this year, the director-general Sergei Amelin said in Saurimo on Tuesday.

The director-general added that production registered in 2017 reached 7.4 million carats and explained that the expected drop was due to the company being focused on the launch of the Luaxe mining project.

Amelin recalled that the mine, whose official launch is scheduled for March, has a reserve of about 350 million carats and an exploration forecast of about 29 years. It has a surface area of 100 hectares and is expected to be mined to a depth of 400 metres.

SMC’s shareholders are state-owned diamond company Endiama and Russian group Alrosa, with equal holdings of 41%, with the remaining 18% held by LL International Holding B.V.

SMC, located in the municipality of Saurimo, Lunda Sul province, is the fourth largest producer of diamonds in the world, with a share of 86.3% by volume and 60.3% by value. (source: Macauhub)