Two projects are in pilot production, located in the province of Lunda Norte, the region where the largest number of mines and diamond projects are located, although Lunda Sul is the largest diamond producer in the country. There are a total of 42 projects participated by Endiama Mining.
Of the 42 mining projects participated by Endiama Mining, the diamond operator of the Endiama group, 21 are at a standstill, five are in prospection and only 11 are already in production. Of the total of 42 projects, four mines are in need of investment and Endiama works to promote the mines to attract investors.
Lunda Norte is the province with the highest number of stalled projects. Two projects are in pilot production, located in the province of Lunda Norte, the region where the largest number of mines and diamond projects are located, although Lunda Sul is the largest diamond producer in the country. It is precisely in Lunda Norte that it is the province with the highest number of stalled projects.
However, the country has licensed, by the end of 2021, 264 diamond exploration cooperatives, of which 62, corresponding to 23.5%, are in operation and 202 are paralyzed, equivalent to 76.5% of the total licenses. In 2020, only 26 were in operation and Endiama sources indicate that this is the way forward for the development of the semi-industrial diamond exploration activity in Angola, recalling that Endiama Mining is already working on its own diamond production program, a reality that can increase diamond production levels.
In Angola there are 62 cooperatives in operation, with 29 being prospected and 33 already in the production phase. However, 202 cooperatives are paralyzed. During 2021, 50,750 carats of diamonds produced by the cooperatives were recovered and sold, generating revenue of USD 7.1 million. In 2020, 30,041 carats were recovered and sold, resulting in a result of USD 2.98 million.
Last year, the semi-industrial exploration of diamonds made it possible to integrate a total of 4,686 workers into the job market, of which 4,645 were nationals and 41 were expatriates. Compared to 2020, there was an increase of 1,548 jobs. The objective, according to those responsible for Endiama, is to formalize semi-industrial exploitation in order to increase tax revenues and guarantee social security for all workers engaged in this activity.
In the context of monitoring the activities carried out by the cooperatives in this field, the Ministry of Mineral Resources, Oil and Gas works, in partnership with Endiama, ANRM, SODIAM and the Special Security Corps for Strategic Minerals (CESME), in order to improve structuring the semi-industrial diamond mining activity, based, among other assumptions, on the legal conversion of mining cooperatives into commercial companies, adjustment of tax and social security obligations and the technical adjustment of equipment and human resources to conform the industrial activity.
Bié is the province with the largest number of cooperatives, followed by Lundas Norte and Sul, Malanje, Moxico, Uige and Cuanza Sul. In these last two regions prospecting works are taking place, while in Malanje only one cooperative is producing. In September 2018, within the scope of Operation Transparency, which aimed to combat illegal emigration and illicit trafficking in diamonds, artisanal and semi-industrial diamond exploration was completely suspended.
The activity was only restarted in February 2019, with the implementation of 16 cooperatives, in a first phase, making a total of 20 mining concessions. These were later joined by another 244 cooperatives, to which 248 mining concessions were granted, but 234 of these entities are inoperative and only ten are producing. Cooperatives have made it possible to integrate a total of 3,097 workers into the labor market so far, of which 3,055 are nationals and 42 are expatriates.
Since the beginning of the process, titles have been awarded to 215 of the 260 cooperatives considered qualified for the activity, representing 80% of all licensing requests. The remaining 45 have “financial incapacity to pay fees and emoluments, an essential requirement for obtaining the aforementioned titles.
Of the total number of titles delivered, only 26 cooperatives are in operation, that is, 12% of the total number of processes granted: 12 in Lunda Norte, two in Lunda Sul, five in Malanje, six in Bié and one in Uíge. Cuanza Norte and Cuanza Sul still do not have operating cooperatives.
