Angolan newspaper Jornal de Angola has reported that diamond mining companies operating in the country will, in future, be able to sell up to 60% of their production in the free market, under the country’s new Diamond Commercialisation Policy. Under the previous system, adopted in 2007, miners had to sell their diamonds to “preferred buyers” designated by the State-owned Empresa Nacional de Comercialização de Diamantes de Angola (National Diamond Commercialisation Company of Angola), better known by its acronym, Sodiam.

Recently, Angolan weekly magazine Expansão reported that, under the preferred buyers system, the country’s diamond miners had lost gross revenues estimated at $5-billion. This was because the preferred buyers were able to demand a discount of 30% in relation to market prices.

The new policy was authorised by a Presidential decree on July 27. It seeks to facilitate regular sales contracts of one year to three years’ duration, as well as sales to diamond polishing companies operating in Angola. These contracts would be properly authorised by government. Also, it provided for auctions for the sale of diamonds “with special characteristics”. It further required that diamonds recovered by artisanal miners, organised in small cooperatives, would be exclusively bought by Sodiam at “market prices and the official list of prices, approved by government”

Separately, the Sociedade Mineira de Catoca (the Catoca Mining Company), Angola’s biggest, and the world’s fourth-biggest, diamond producer, would, over the next five years, focus on improving its operational efficiency to increase its productivity and its fiscal contributions. This was announced early this month by the company’s new GM, Benedito Paulo Manuel. He also emphasised the need for job security for the workforce and improving the social conditions of the workers, as well as the need to pay them salaries that would meet their needs.

Manuel succeeds the Russian, Sergei Amelin, who held the post for three years and oversaw the development of the new Luaxe mine, which lies some 25 km from Catoca. Manuel takes up his office as Luaxe enters production. He identified its production ramp-up as one of the main challenges facing the company. (The Luaxe project started with surveying and prospecting operations back in 2008.)

Catoca is based in the town of Saurimo, in Lunda Sul province. It is a joint venture between Angola’s State-owned Empresa Nacional de Prospecção, Exploração, Lapidação e Comercialização de Diamantes de Angola (Endiama – the National Company for the Prospecting, Mining, Polishing and Commercialisation of Diamonds of Angola), Russia’s State-owned global major diamond miner, Alrosa, which have a 41% stake each, and LL International Holdings (which holds the remaining 18%). Catoca is responsible for 86.3% by volume and 60.3% by value of the diamonds produced in Angola.