The Saurimo Diamond Development Pole, in the province of Lunda-Sul, has more than 20 lots available that are waiting for private investment in the diamond cutting sector.
The information was provided by the consultant to the Minister of Mineral Resources, Oil and Gas, Mankenda Ambroise, on the sidelines of the 2nd edition of the exhibition and parade of jewelry with embedded diamonds from Angola, held Thursday 16th February in Luanda.
The person in charge said that, despite the infrastructure having five cutting factories, the complex is still open to investors who intend to set up factories on the site.
He said that the diamond trading policy in force in the country allows 20 percent of production to be sold to cutters, but this target has not yet been achieved due to the scarcity of cutting factories in the country.
“The country is producing around nine million carats/year, most of which is exported raw. Therefore, it is a great victory for Angola, if it has the capacity to polish the 20 percent of its extraction locally”, he said.
Mankenda Ambroise announced shortly the opening of the Angola Diamond Exchange, with the aim of trading the country’s rough diamonds with transparency and coherence.
For this reason, he considered the jewelry exhibition to be of extreme importance, as it allows promoting the culture of wearing jewelry with diamonds produced in Angola.
According to the director general of Bumbar Mining, Sebastião Panzo, promoter of the event, the exhibition and parade of jewelry with embedded diamonds, called “Valentine’s Diamond Show” (VDS), aimed to encourage Angolans to be the first to enjoy the benefits of ” precious stone” abundant in the country.
He said that citizens can enjoy the benefits of diamonds in two ways: as a financial reserve (saving in the form of savings) and adornment (use of spices made with national diamonds).
In turn, the commercial director of Pedra Rubra (jewelry and diamond cutting factory), Helga Milagre, considered the event as a way of showing the country’s industrial and technological capacity for processing mineral resources.
With a capacity to produce up to 500 pieces/month, including necklaces, bracelets, engagement rings and wedding rings made with diamonds and national gold, the person in charge pointed out the expansion of this initiative at national and international level as one of the challenges of her company, in the next times.
Bumba Mining’s initiative aims to promote and experience in practice the benefits of Angola’s progression in the diamond industry value chain, as well as serving as a platform for samples by Angolan jewelers.
