De Beers Returns to Angola after Two Decades

(IDEX Online) - De Beers today signed diamond-mining agreements with the government of Angola, signaling its return to the country after more than two decades. 

Both sides appear to be patching up a "difficult" relationship, after Angola halted all diamond contracts in 2000 and granted a monopoly to Sodiam, the newly-created, state-run company.

De Beers went on to file arbitration proceedings, unsuccessfully, against Angola.  It will now prospect for primary diamond deposits across almost 20,000 square kilometers in Lunda Sul and Lunda Norte provinces, in the north-east of the country.

The mineral investment contracts result from "several rounds of negotiations between Angolan institutions and De Beers, since October 2021," the ministry of mineral resources, oil and gas said in a statement.

De Beers said last December that it hoped to conduct exploration activities following "substantive and consistent reforms implemented by the Government of Angola".

The UK-based miner carried out exploration activities in Angola between 2005 and 2012  - shortly after the end of the 27-year civil war - did not find a suitable project.

Angola is the world's fourth biggest diamond producer, with a forecast output of 10.1m carats in 2022, but it has yet to explore 60 per cent of its diamond-rich territories.