De Beers is scheduled to sign two mining investment contracts with the Angolan government to mine diamonds in the provinces of Lunda Norte and Lunda Sul.
The mineral resources ministry was quoted as saying in a statement by LUSA that the contracts were a result of several rounds of negotiations between Angolan institutions and De Beers since October 2021.
De Beers will prospect for primary diamond deposits over 9,984 square kilometres in Lunda Sul province and 9,701 square kilometres in Lunda Norte province.
“De Beers’ renewed interest in diamond projects in Angola stems from reforms implemented by the government [giving] greater transparency to processes for granting mining rights and greater participation in the socio-economic development of mining areas,” the ministry was quoted as saying.
The friction between De Beers and Luanda started in early 2000 after the Angolan government suspended all diamond buying and selling contracts as part of a restructuring of the sector, which included the creation of Sodiam, which was given a monopoly on marketing the country’s diamonds.
As the relationship between De Beers and Angola soared, a batch of diamonds from Angola, sent by Sodiam, was confiscated in Antwerp in March 2000 for a few days due to a judicial request from De Beers.
The diamond miner was defending its rights over the marketing of the parcel.
Efforts to ease the tensions failed and De Beers filed several arbitration proceedings against the Angolan state, which it lost.
De Beers’ fortunes only changed in 2018 when the group chief executive Bruce Cleaver visited President João Lourenço following an invitation for the diamond giant to return to the country, where it maintained a residual presence since 2014.
Mathew Nyaungwa, Editor in Chief of the African Bureau, in Zimbabwe, Rough&Polished
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