At the time of signing the contract between the Angolan State and the Anglo-Australian multinational, in Luanda, Mara Oliveira, member of the negotiating committee, said that this process began on November 8, 2023 and the concession involves an area of 9887 square kilometers in the province of Moxico, with the State's participation in kind (0.1 percent of the product obtained).
For the general director of Rio Tinto in Angola, Canga Xiaquivuila, this is a new cycle of the presence of this multinational in Angola, which, in addition to being in the diamond sector, "will start to operate a fundamental resource for the energy transition".
Base metals are used, for example, in the production of clean energy and constitute a factor in diversifying mining activity.
Rio Tinto is the third multinational to invest in this area in Moxico, joining Anglo-American and the Canadian Ivanhoe Mines, said the Minister of Mineral Resources, Oil and Gas, Diamantino Azevedo.
"We are effectively diversifying the mining sector and contributing to the diversification of our economy in general", stated the official, highlighting that this has been characterized, in Angola, essentially by diamond and ornamental stone activity, but there is also beginning to be production of gold and other minerals could join those already being explored.
Asked whether Rio Tinto hopes to sign other contracts soon, Canga Xiaquivuila, stated that the company is always looking for other opportunities.
"We are in Angola and we are here to stay", he highlighted, pointing out potential, for example, in heavy sands (sands that allow the extraction of metals such as ilmenite, rutile and zircon, used in various technological industries), which Rio Tinto is already exploring in South Africa and which have already been identified in southwest Angola.
Mining contracts are developed in several phases, the first being prospecting, up to five years, with the possibility of extension for a further two, and while the exploration phase is 35 years, but can also be extended.
