Angola sees pickup in diamond mining

LUANDA – Angola’s diamond industry is starting to show positive signs of recovery, according to the mines minister Friday, despite a number of international companies pulling out.

Mankenda Ambroise, minister for geology and mining, told AFP the country was making around 70 million dollars a month, up from 25 million at the start of the year.
‘We are beginning to see positive signs,’ he said. ‘This crisis will pass and the Angolan government has taken steps to defend against it.’
The government has tried to shore up the industry by buying diamonds itself when international prices drop below production costs, and by guaranteeing salaries of workers where mines have been temporarily closed to prevent mass unemployment in some of the country’s poorest regions.
The world’s fifth-biggest diamond producer, Angola had predicted production of 10,5 million carats for 2009, although this is likely to drop to around nine million, the minister said.
‘Despite the crisis, production continues. The problem is with the commercialisation, but our doors are open for future buyers and we are calling on all those who have the money and the capacity to invest to do so,’ Ambroise said.
He added that companies that left Angola in the past year would not be welcome back.
In January Angola cancelled the World Diamond Summit, planned to be held here this November, citing the global downturn as the reason.
Nearby Botswana announced Friday it was halving production to 15 million carats due to plunging global demand.
-Nampa-AFP