Storm Mountain Diamonds, a subsidiary of Namakwa Diamonds, has recovered a 108.39-carat fancy pink diamond at its Kao mine in Lesotho. It said the rare Type IIa gemstone is one of the largest pink diamonds ever discovered. The Kao mine produced the 47.81-carat Pink Eternity in 2022; the 25.97-carat Pink Dawn and the 21.68ct Pink Palesa in 2021, as well as the 29.59ct Rose of Kao in 2018. Storm said the latest discovery reinforces Kao
The Mozambican Minister of Economy and Finance, Max Tonela, recently informed that the Government intends to invest around US$34 billion in generating more than 3,000 Megawatts (MW) of energy by 2030. Speaking in Washington, United States of America, in a lecture under the motto “United for Energy Security and Sustainability, Triple Victory in Regional Energy Trade”, Max Tonela stressed that Mozambique is outlining strategies aimed at attracting the necessary financial resources to exploit the high
Namibia’s Jonker-1X light oil discovery – made last month by partners Shell, QatarEnergy and the National Petroleum Corporation of Namibia (NAMCOR) – represents the third discovery in a string of Orange Basin exploration successes announced in the past year. Coupled with the Graff-1X and Venus-1X finds (made in 2022 merely weeks apart), leading International Oil Companies (IOCs) are proving the size and scope of Namibia’s deepwater hydrocarbon resources. As such, Namibia’s E&P sector is expected to attract
South Africa’s Department of Mineral Resources and Energy has granted French major TotalEnergies environmental authorization to conduct exploration activities in the offshore Block 5/6/7, located in an area approximately 10,000km² between Cape Town and Cape Agulhas. The decision follows the conclusion of all prescribed procedural requirements by TotalEnergies, including public consultation and environmental checks, with the major expected to drill up to five exploration wells between Q4 this year and mid-2024. Representing a high-potential block –
Year-on-year inflation in Italy slowed to 7.6 percent in March, against 9.1 percent in February, thanks mainly to the slowdown in energy prices, announced the Italian National Institute of Statistics (Istat). The slowdown in inflation is mainly due to the deceleration in the prices of non-regulated energy goods (from 40.8 to 18.9 percent) and the fall in regulated energy prices (from 16.4 to 20.3 percent), whose effects were only partially offset by acceleration in unprocessed
COUNTED AMONG THE COUNTRIES OF THE CONTINENT WITH AN OIL POTENTIAL CAPABLE OF REVOLUTIONIZING ITS ENTIRE ECONOMIC SECTOR, THE DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO (DRC) STILL DOES NOT ATTRACT GREAT BENEFITS FROM THIS SECTOR. According to the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) report, between 2020 and 2021, the DRC’s oil sector brought in only USD 364.6 million to the public treasury. A modest sum that does not reflect the oil potential of the country estimated at more
The Federal Government of Nigeria stated on Thursday 13th April that N13 trillion was spent on petrol subsidies between 2005 and 2021. It also stated that N16.3 trillion was lost to oil theft from 2009 to 2020. At a policy dialogue on oil swap that was co-hosted by the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative and Policy Alert, an indigenous civil society organization, with assistance from the Opening Extractives, it was revealed in Abuja. Orji Ogbonnaya-Orji,
Russian oil exports reached a three-year peak in March despite sanctions, but gains are lower than in 2022, according to data released this Friday 14th April by the International Energy Agency (IEA). Ukraine’s allies have adopted economic sanctions against Moscow to reduce Russia’s ability to finance the war effort that began with the invasion of the neighboring country on February 24, 2022. Even so, Russian oil exports increased in March by 600,000 barrels a day
Botswana may not renew a five-decade sales agreement with De Beers if the diamond producer doesn’t offer a larger share of rough diamonds to the state’s gem trading company, Okavango Diamond Company (ODC). The move comes after the southern Africa nation acquired last month a 24% stake in Belgian diamond processing firm HB Antwerp for an undisclosed sum. Analysts saw this deal as a way for Botswana to loosen the Anglo American-owned miner’s grip on its diamond
Botswana Diamonds has begun mining at Marsfontein in South Africa, as a proof-of-concept trial project that it expects will help improve operations at its larger Thorny River project. The company, which has faced challenges including plant delivery delays and adverse weather, said it’s now on track to start production at Thorny River in the second half of this year. Botswana Diamonds is working on bringing the two projects — Marsfontein and Thorny River — into production this
