Revenue from the sale of the largest diamond found in Angola goes to the state budget
Lusa17 February 2016 at 16:24
Seven diamonds were discovered large this month in Angola's Lulo mine, which was also found a stone with 404.2 carats, the largest ever in Angola and whose sale will contribute to the government accounts.
The information was advanced today in Luanda by the Chairman of the Board of Directors of Empresa Nacional de Angola Diamonds (Endiama), Sumbula, which considered the historical discovery, because it is also the 27th largest diamond in the world.
According Sumbula, they were still found in Lulo mine in the province of Lunda Norte, with diamonds from 120.37 to 82.60 carats, but also of 56.30 and 33.95 carats. The smallest of these great discoveries, this period was 29.28 carats.
Sumbula said that the Angolan Government carries out since 2010 a survey to determine the origin of the existing alluvial diamonds in the country and that the discovery of this 404.2-carat diamond will, through their specifications and qualities, from script to identify the its kimberlite (vein of rock containing diamonds).
"We are pleased that the discovery of this stone we already have an Angolan private company," said Carlos Sumbula.
The Lulo project, located in Capenda Camulemba, flanked by Cacuilo and Capenda projects, is a company formed by a partnership between Endiama (32%), the Rose and Petals (28%) and Lucapa Diamond (40%), business Australian who is the operator of the mine.
The commercial value of most Angolan diamond found so far has been estimated at 18 million euros, but Sumbula said he still is being evaluated in the market, noting that it is a stone out of the normal range of the company's activity.
He added that Endiama and the Ministry of Geology and Mines are examining so that the value of the sale can revert directly to the State Budget.
"That is, the part that will fit to Endiama, we will not reinvest it in Lulo, but we will forward it directly to the State Budget," he said.
After oil - whose revenues fell to less than half in 2015 due to the crisis of the crude barrel price - diamonds are the second export product of Angola.
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