The agreement, signed in December 2020, provides for the creation, in this year of 2021, of a "pilot mining program to guarantee the rapid implementation of the project, the start of operations and the export of diamonds" from the Mulepe deposit, in Lunda Norte, according to a joint note.
The Mulepe deposit contains, according to the same note, "significant alluvial and kimberlite deposits", with the aim of the project - which aims to boost its diamond potential - create jobs and added value for this Angolan region.
"With this pilot program it is intended that both partners know in detail the mining operations to be carried out on the site, the type and quality of the diamonds existing in the concession, the capacity of the service providers that already operate in the region, as well as the potential collection revenue from the sale of diamonds to be extracted from Mulepe ", adds the document.
With an investment of 150 million dollars, the project foresees that, in full production, it will be possible to process approximately three million tons of kimberlites per year.
The financing will be borne by Gemcorp, which will do so as a majority shareholder, promoter and operator, while Endiama, "which has relevant institutional knowledge of the place", will work "so that this partnership develops in a timely, economically profitable and safe ".
Gemcorp expects to employ around 140 workers, "mostly from the local community" and who will be dedicated to "management, operation and mining".
The chairman of Gemcorp's board of directors, Atanas Bostandjiev, quoted in the statement, says he is satisfied with the support to Angola "in retaining the full value of natural resources".
"Angola is a country with enormous potential and this partnership reinforces the confidence we have in the country's economic future. Our capacity and experience in financing and developing projects, accompanied by experience in the sale of goods in Sub-Saharan Africa, means that we are well positioned to implement and conclude this new investment in Angola ", said the group leader.
Endiama's counterpart, Ganga Júnior, praised the partnership, which "constitutes another step towards increasing the business portfolio of the Angolan diamond subsector throughout its value chain".
"We are very pleased to work with GEMCORP in what will be its first diamond exploration activity in the country, an exercise that will certainly contribute to the development of Angola, and which represents a strong sign of the opening of the subsector to foreign direct investment. ", underlined the Angolan official.
The Mulepe project is Gemcorp's first investment in diamond mining in sub-Saharan Africa.
Endiama contributed 252 million and 328 million to the state coffers in 2018 and 2019, respectively, hoping to increase this to nearly 1400 million between 2020 and 2022.
The company earned 1266 million in 2019 and estimates global revenues of 1657, 1877 and 2208 million in 2020, 2021 and 2022.
