Angolan President João Lourenço, on Monday November 27, inaugurated the country’s largest diamond project, the Luele (Luaxe) mine, which is due to start operating later this year with the prospect of producing 628 million carats.
The kimberlite (diamond matrix rock) of the Luele project, located in the northeast of Angola, in the province of Lunda Sul, was discovered in November 2013 during geological surveys by Sociedade Mineira de Catoca, according to information provided by the Ministry of Mineral Resources, Oil and Gas (MIREMPET).
Preliminary studies of the geological potential indicate that the Luele kimberlite, which is 600 meters deep and covers an area of 105 hectares, contains 647 million tons of ore, which will result in 628 million carats during the mine’s 60-year lifespan.
So far, 635 million dollars (581 million euros) have been invested by Sociedade Mineira do Luele, in which Catoca has a 50.5% stake, Angolan state diamond company Endiama, 25%, Falcon, 19.5%, Reform, 4.0%, and the Geological Institute of Angola (IGEO), 1%.
This Monday, at the inauguration, the minister in charge, Diamantino Azevedo, spoke about Angola’s diamond industry in the international context, highlighting the return to the country of the multinational De Beers and, for the first time, the global mining giant Rio Tinto, “which, in addition to diamonds, is seeing the opportunity to invest in prospecting for other minerals.”