The authority, in a statement to which VerAngola had access, reveals that the laying of the first stone for the construction of the gold refinery will take place "in the last week of June, at Geoangola's facilities, in the Industrial Complex of Viana, in Luanda", in an event that will be attended by Diamantino Azevedo, Minister of Mineral Resources, Oil and Gas, and Ana Paula de Carvalho, governor of Luanda.
The construction of the project, which is expected to last one year, "has an investment from Geoangola, an Endiama unit that will have more than 83 percent of the shares", the statement said.
The authority also informs that the project has already started the "recruitment and selection of 24 of the 30 future workers, in terms of direct jobs", adding that the staff recruited at this stage will benefit from training abroad.
In the construction phase of the refinery, it is estimated that around 80 more people will be employed, the note said.
The refinery will have "a workforce composed of young Angolans licensed inside or outside" the country, and these technicians will accompany the "assembly and commissioning of the equipment, after benefiting from the proper training".
According to the ministry, this project is the result of the Executive's commitment to "promoting the value chain of minerals with occurrences in the country, from research and prospecting, through exploration, transformation and commercialization, in order to generate more jobs".
A total of 28 gold projects are known in the country, of which 20 are in prospection, eight already have exploration titles and two have already started production and commercialization.
In 2020, according to data cited by Angop, of the 5441 ounces expected, 1887 were extracted while last year the result of production in this sector stood at 1137 ounces, out of the 7500 expected.
