Angola’s Catoca diamond mine has lowered its annual revenue forecast to $400 million from between $500 million and 550 million.
Angolan news agency, Angop quoted company director Jose Ganga Jr as saying that the revised revenue forecast came after diamond sales dropped about 5 percent in the first half of the year.
He said the drop was caused by the financial crisis in Europe and the United States.
Catoca was currently producing an average of 500,000 carats a month, Ganga Jr said.
The mine near the northeastern town of Saurimo is operated by Sociedade Mineira de Catoca whose major shareholders are Russia’s ALROSA and Angola's state-owned diamond company Endiama EP.
The Catoca kimberlite pipe was the fourth-largest diamond-rich rock formation on Earth in terms of surface area.
Mathew Nyaungwa, Editor in Chief of the African Bureau, Rough&Polished
