The data was presented this Friday by the Secretary of State for Mineral Resources, Jânio Correia Vítor, justifying the drop in production, in this period, due to the optimization and conditioning services of the Sociedade Mineira do Luele treatment center and the restructuring of some projects .
"The total production carried out in 2023 represents a decrease of around 21 percent compared to the established forecast, justified by several factors with emphasis on the optimization and conditioning services of the Luele treatment plant", he said.
Sociedade Mineira de Catoca was the one that produced the most in the period, with around 71 percent of total production.
Speaking during the ceremony to present the achievements of the diamond subsector in 2023, he made it known that Angola sold 9.39 million carats of rough diamonds.
"Diamond exports totaled around 9.91 million carats, representing an increase of almost 12 percent compared to the previous year", he noted.
Gross revenues from diamond exports were around 1.5 billion dollars, "a reduction of approximately 20 percent compared to 2022, justified by the reduction in market prices compared to the previous year", he argued.
Regarding projections, Jânio Correia Vítor said that this subsector intends to exceed 10 million carats of rough diamonds.
The United Arab Emirates (72 percent) and Belgium (26 percent) were the main destinations for national diamonds.
