"We plan to increase our annual production to 15 000 carats.

From now until December 2005 we aim to produce 10 000 carats," Sebastiao Panzo said.

Panzo said the new climate of peace in Angola, which is emerging from a brutal 27-year civil war, and the measures taken to combat illegal mining and trade had paid rich dividends.

The government says that of around 290 000 diamond traffickers in the country, 90 000 are foreigners, mostly from the Democratic Republic of Congo, Mali, Senegal and Sierra Leone.

Panzo said there could be many more as "hardly 40 per cent of Angola's geological potential had been studied and this dates to the time of the Diamang, the former diamond mining company created in 1917."

He said Angola had about 90 new diamond concessions ready to be exploited in the provinces of Luanda North and Luanda South.

In 2003, the government set up the Company for the Commercialisation of Angolan Diamonds (SODIAM), which has to certify origin and is the sole window through which the stones can be exported, mainly to Israel, Belgium and the United States.

- Nampa-AFP

Marketplace News Headlines Of The Last 48 Hours

•  Governments and business collude in deaths of trade unionists, survey reveals
•  FNB offers cross-border prepaid airtime
•  Lena Blomstrand: Nuclear power is an environmental disaster
•  IMF finally approves US$2,1bn loan to Iceland
•  Steady as she goes, says Captain Manuel to Good Ship SA
•  Tourism body supports SME sector
•  Bannerman secures N$132m for Namibian project
•  Forsys strikes mega deal with Forrest
•  Air travel nosedives as recessionary clouds gather
•  Global labour union welcomes re-election of ILO boss
•  Booming Gulf looks overseas for agriculture needs
•  Farming development at Ndonga Linena on track
•  Govt aims to decrease Nam's dependence on imports
•  School's out The Tukwafeni Project: an activity beyond the classroom
•  Electricity theft cost firms thousands in Maputo