Endiama and the Russian diamond giant discovered Luaxe in 2015.
Macauhub quoted company’s chairperson Antonio Carlos Sumbula as saying that the diamond companies would raise the funds on their own.
Alrosa president Andrei Zharkov said last September that capital investments in Luaxe project during its mine life was estimated at $1 billion.
The project, which was expected to begin diamond production within three to four years, was projected to record an annual output of between 8 million carats and 10 million carats.
It was bigger than the Catoca, which currently produces about 80 percent of the country’s total diamond output.
Catoca, the fourth largest kimberlite in the world, was also partly-owned by Endiama and Alrosa.
Meanwhile, Sumbula said Endiama would slightly reduce production to improve revenue until Luaxe starts operating.
“When the company was producing 8 million carats revenue was $1.2 billion, but in 2016, with production of 9 million carats, revenue fell to $1.07 billion,” said Sumbula.
“Our intention is to work towards more revenue, based on a drop in production.”
Mathew Nyaungwa, Editor in Chief of the African Bureau, Rough&Polished