The Yetwene project, in which one of Israeli diamond dealer Lev Leviev's firms is the largest shareholder, had produced a monthly average of over 6 000 carats - or US$500 000 (N$3,3 million) - in revenue since production began after a hiatus of several years.

"That's even better than we expected and we believe production will increase," Sebastiao Panzo, director of information at state diamond company Endiama, told Reuters.

Operations had been paralysed by Angola's long civil war but restarted this year with a fresh US$4,9 million investment by Richview Mining B.V., a subsiduary of the Leviev group with a 40 per cent stake in the project.

The Yetwene mine, measuring 756,929 square metres and with potential diamond reserves of 393,184 carats, was previously owned by US firm Branch Energy, a subsidiary of Diamond Works.

The company abandoned operations in 1999 after the mine was attacked by former rebel movement Unita.

But foreign interest in Angola's diamond resources has been building following the signing of a peace accord in 2002.

The Leviev Group has a turnover of more than US$2,5 billion, putting it in second place in the world behind diamond giant De Beers.

Leviev currently is a partner in four diamond mines in Angola and plans to expand operations.

Panzo said a total of 130 diamond concessions had been allocated to investors in the past years.

Panzo said that once the initial investment had been recouped, ownership would be split equally between the three partners.

Endiama has said it expects annual revenues from the diamond sector to exceed US$5 billion within five years, up from an estimated nearly US$1 billion this year.

It sees annual production rising to 15 million carats in the next five years from six million this year.

-Nampa-Reuters

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