Sanctioned Alrosa Walks Away from Angola Partnership
November 30, 24
(IDEX Online) - Alrosa, the Russian miner, is selling its shares in the company that owns two Angolan diamond mines to an Omani investor consortium in response to G7 sanctions.
Angola's mineral resources minister Diamantino Azevedo announced the sale on Thursday (28 November).
He said Alrosa "will no longer be part of this partnership due to international sanctions imposed on Russia".
Sanctions were harming Angola's credibility in the international diamond market, he said.
"Alrosa, a partner of Endiama in the Catoca mining company, will cease to be a partner of this company and, consequently, also a partner of the Luele mining company."
Azevedo has previously described Alrosa as a "toxic partner".
Alrosa held a 41 per cent share in the Catoca Mining Society (Sociedade Mineira de Catoca), which owns Catoca and the newly-opened Luele mine.
The shares have been acquired by Maaden International Investment, a subsidiary of Mercury Investments International, a state-owned company ultimately owned by the Government of Oman.
Maaden International Investment focuses on economic diversification in key sectors and bought a 23.9 per cent stake stake earlier this year in Kazakhstan-based gold and silver producer Polymetal International plc.
The move comes ahead of US President Joe Biden's visit to Angola in December, and suggest the government in Luanda aims to forge closer ties with Washington.
Angola has long been pushing for Alrosa to withdraw unconditionally from Sociedade Mineira de Catoca.
No financial details of the share transfer have been released.
Pic shows Catoca mines, Angola.