Angola: Diamond prices 30-55% lower than forecast in H1 – ENDIAMA

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Angola: Diamond prices 30-55% lower than forecast in H1 – ENDIAMA

9:36 CAT | 09 Aug 2024

File photo: Lusa

Angolan diamond prices were between 30% and 55% lower than planned in the first half of 2024, the board of the Angolan National Diamond Company (ENDIAMA) announced on Wednesday.

“Indeed, the situation in the diamond market is not very satisfactory. Today we practically have sales of between 30% and 55% of the projected price. If current price levels continue we will probably experience some difficulties until the end of the year,” said ENDIAMA’s executive director Laureano Receado Paulo today.

The manager, who was speaking today at the opening of the workshop on the half-yearly review of diamond production this year and prospects for the future, also signalled a number of challenges currently facing the diamond sub-sector.

According to the manager, the diamond production segment in Angola can only improve with geological knowledge for the discovery of new mines, stressing that work is already underway to improve the system for mining, loading, transporting and treating diamonds.

“We also continue to emphasise the question of economic issues, we will always have to work to reduce environmental costs and the question of social responsibility is also a major mission for us,” he stressed.

He also pointed to the need to increase production and research capacity at the Catoca mine, one of the country’s largest mines, in order to maintain its production for the next 20 years, noting that the Luele mine is in the consolidation phase.

“At the moment we have two ENDIAMA projects at a very advanced stage, Chambacanda and Luaximba, which could, in the near future, increase the production cycle in the diamond subsector,” he concluded.

According to the Minas de Angola portal, at least 4.2 million carats of diamonds were produced in the first five months of 2024 in Angola, a period in which the country earned US$288 million.

The Catoca and Luele mines produced most of the diamonds in this period, namely 88% of production from primary deposits and 12% from secondary deposits.

Source: Lusa