Angola, which was this year expected to produce 10 million carats is set to reduce its diamond output target by 2 million carats due to limitations imposed as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, according to state-owned media. Endiama president Ganga Júnior was quoted by Angop news agency as saying that 2020 output was now projected to reach 8 million carats.
Prior to the pandemic, Endiama was working on boosting its production to position itself as one of the top three largest diamond miners in the world.
Ganga Junior said existing mines were being revamped with emphasis on the old Luvo concession with the aim of increasing production capacity.
He said the new Luaxe mine in Lunda Sul was also set to come on stream to boost diamond output in the country.
Endiama, together with Russia’s Alrosa, are prospecting for diamonds at the Luaxe kimberlite project.
The deposit was discovered in 2013 and it has reserves of about 350 million carats with a lifespan of 30 years.
Angola produced 9.1 million carats in 2019.
Meanwhile, the Belgian ambassador to Angola, Jozef Smets, said his country intends to deepen cooperation with the southern African country in the diamond sector
He was quoted by Euronews as saying that the objective was to strengthen the capacity to control the quality and origin of diamonds.
“We cannot, in a transparent economy like the Belgian, allow us to lack transparency in a very delicate sector,” said Smets, praising Angola's “strong” participation in the Kimberley Process.
He said the ongoing reform underway in the Angolan diamond sector will make the country more attractive to Belgian firms.
"Angola is doing this restructuring of the diamond sector and we are following this process and we want to offer essentially partnerships to strengthen the Angolan capacity to control quality and also the origin of diamonds to improve transparency," said Smets.
Mathew Nyaungwa, Editor in Chief of the African Bureau, Rough&Polished
