The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe has stockpiled 300,000 carats of diamonds under new regulations which compel miners to pay half of their royalties using commodities, the state-run Sunday Mail reported. Central bank governor John Mangudya also told the Harare-based newspaper that gold reserves stood at around 350 kilograms, or around $20 million in US dollars. The value of the diamond stockpile is hard to quantify, he added. Zimbabwe introduced regulations last year that require miners to pay
Journalists from various public and private media outlets in the province of Lunda-Sul were equipped with knowledge about the Kimberley Process (KP) on Saturday. The participants were informed about “Mastering the Kimberley Process certification system,” “Kimberley Process trends and current issues in review and reforms,” and “Statistics on global production and trade of rough diamonds: Angola’s position in the ranking.” On the occasion, Estanislau Buio, the Executive Secretary of the Kimberley Process Commission (KP), explained
Catoca Mining Company has resumed diamond sales this month after temporarily suspending them due to a drop in prices in the international market. The company’s gemstone carat prices fell by 22 percent. The chairman of the company’s Management Council, Benedito Manuel, made this announcement. Quoted by RNA yesterday August 13th, Benedito Manuel added that sales are taking place on an experimental basis, given the precautions established to assess market trends. “We have not yet reached
Anglo-Australian mining giant Rio Tinto is to build Canada’s largest solar power plant that willsupply electricity to its diamond mine in the Northwest Territories, the miner announced last week. The plant will cover a quarter of the electricity needs of the Diavik diamond mine by generating around 4,200 megawatt-hours of electricity annually. The move comes as Rio Tinto plans to achieve net-zero emissions across its operations by 2050. The solar plant is expected to cut the
The Luele Mine, located in the Eastern region of the country, between the provinces of Lunda-Norte and Lunda-Sul, is expected to commence effective diamond exploration by the end of the year, as announced by the Minister of Mineral Resources, Petroleum, and Gas on Tuesday August 8th. While not disclosing the exact starting month for now, Diamantino Azevedo explained, in statements to the press at the conclusion of his assessment visit to the province of Lunda-Sul,
The Diamond Exchange of Angola will begin experimental operations later this year to revitalize the diamond subsector market and support the diversification of the national economy, as announced on Wednesday in Luanda by the Chairman of the Board of Directors of Endiama, Ganga Júnior. Despite the delay in completing the building that was supposed to house the Diamond Exchange, which was originally scheduled for December 2022, the manager, quoted by Angop, emphasized that the process
The province of Lunda-Norte may soon gain a Diamond Polishing Hub, according to the Minister of Mineral Resources, Petroleum and Gas. Diamantino Pedro Azevedo mentioned this possibility on Wednesday in Luanda, during the presentation ceremony of the results of the National Geology Plan (PLANAGEO). The minister stated that the Hub aims to strengthen the ongoing activities in the existing polishing units in Lunda-Sul and Luanda.
The sale of rough diamonds at Botswana’s Debswana Diamond Co fell 17% in the first six months of the year, data released by the central bank showed, amid a weak market underpinned by global macroeconomic uncertainty. Debswana, a joint venture of Botswana and Anglo American Plc’s unit De Beers, sells 75% of its output to De Beers with the balance taken up by state-owned Okavango Diamond Co. Botswana and De Beers in late June agreed
The International Finance Corporation (IFC), last week in the Province of Luanda guaranteed 72 million US dollars to support the construction and expansion of the Sagrada Esperança Clinic (CSE), run by the Endiama group. To formalise this fund, CSE and IFC (a member of the World Bank) finalised a financing agreement, which was signed by the clinic’s chairman, Rui Pinto, and IFC vice-president, Sérgio Pimenta, who made a two-day visit to Angola. At that time,
De Beers says that early data indicate that their two concession sites in the Angolan provinces of Lunda Norte and Lunda Sul have great geological potential. Group spokesperson David Johnson told Rough&Polished’s Mathew Nyaungwa in an exclusive interview that they are looking forward to commencing fieldwork to investigate this further through their joint venture partnership with the state-owned Endiama. Fieldwork will primarily focus in airborne surveys while also preparing for the discovery drilling process. Johnson
