World's Fourth Largest Mine Cuts Production
May 26, 20
(IDEX Online) - Angola's Catoca mine is cutting production after state-owned miner Endiama revised down its 2020 forecast by 80 per cent.
The world's fourth largest mine accounts for three-quarters of the country's annual output.
Endiama says total output will be just 2m rather than the 10m carats originally forecast.
De Beers and Alrosa, jointly responsible for over half the world's rough production, have both announced reductions of up to 20 per cent.
Catoca (pictured) employs 3,500 people and is operated by Sociedade Mineira de Catoca, a joint venture between state-owned Endiama and Russia's Alrosa.
It reduced projected production volumes, postponed new investments, and pledged to reduce expenses, according to a report in the Portuguese-language Novo Jornal website.
Predictions before coronavirus were that Angola's production in 2022 would leap to 14m carats, putting it ahead of Canada as the third-biggest diamond-producer.