Semi-industrial mining to stop in Angola
The Angolan diamond sector might put an end to semi-industrial mining, aiming to provide more competitiveness, transparency and efficiency to the activities in the sector, announced last Monday, the chief executive officer of the state-owned National Diamonds Company (ENDIAMA), Ganga Júnior.
Speaking to the press, during an assessment of the activities carried out by the sector in 2019, the ENDIAMA C.E.O said there is institutional intention to end semi-industrial exploitation and stay only with industrial operations, regardless of whether they were large or small cooperatives.
He underlined that the idea is for companies to comply with the requirements set out in the approved regulation, namely in relation to the rules of exploitation, environmental protection, marketing, taxes and social support to the community.
He said he hopes that this measure will contribute to the promotion and creation of more jobs, help decrease imports and boost exports and, consequently, the collection of foreign exchange for the country. He stressed that the Executive is aware that the mining sector could contribute much more to the country's growth and sustainable development and also underlined the focus on increasing geological knowledge and training of personnel for the sector.
“We have been working with leading diamond companies around the world to add more and more value to the sector, and thus make the country the world's third largest producer and cutter, taking into account the potential in the sector,” he said. It is also intended to improve existing mining operations to create an ENDIAMA-only production chain, although much work remains to be done, the manager stressed.
Meanwhile, while the balance sheet of the diamond sector's activities was being presented, right in front of ENDIAMA's headquarters it was being staged a demonstration of workers serving the public company and its partners, for alleged lack of remuneration for more than 17 months and integration in the social security system.
