José Ganga Júnior was speaking to the press on the sidelines of a training event that anticipates the holding of the II International Diamond Conference of Angola, to be held between the 23rd and 24th of this month, in the province of Lunda Sul, to analyze the resources and mineral reserves in the country and the world.
"The health [of the diamond sector] we can say is not very good, because, unfortunately, we have been confronted for more than two years with an unprecedented crisis in the market, the crisis is really big. Today, from the point of view of production, I must say that we are doing well, we are producing, in the meantime we have difficulties in putting diamonds on sale", said José Ganga Júnior.
According to the chairman of the board of directors of Endiama, Angola's state-owned diamond company, more than three million carats of diamonds are in 'stock' "waiting for better days".
"It's an effort, a great resilience, in the sense of being able to maintain mining operations. But diamonds have cycles (...) we need to work to overcome this difficulty", he stressed.
José Ganga Júnior highlighted that India, the main buyer of Angolan diamonds, has already lifted the suspension that occurred in the third quarter of last year.
India decided to freeze the import of rough diamonds as a way to respond to the slowdown in trade and balance supply and demand.
"But the market problem is international, so at the moment sales are low and prices are also significantly lower", said Ganga Júnior.
Despite sales facing difficulties, diamond production has evolved, with the prospect of exceeding expectations and reaching around 14 million carats this year.
"We are producing well, we will exceed all expectations and it will be our highest production volume for this year, approximately 14 million carats, we will not be far away", said José Ganga Júnior.
Regarding the II International Diamond Conference in Angola, the president of Endiama highlighted the objective of promoting mining investment in the country, not just for diamonds.
"The main objective is to make national and international institutions, large companies, small and medium-sized ones, interested in our mineral resources, particularly diamonds, and provide wealth", he expressed.
Regarding this Monday's workshop, which included the participation of international experts, José Ganga Júnior considered it "extremely important" for the classification and evaluation of reserves, because the resources are found underground and it is necessary to first develop geological prospecting and not "skipping steps".
Angola currently has known reserves from its main mines, which far exceed 600 million carats, said José Ganga Júnior, admitting that the manufacturing and marketing of synthetic diamonds is a challenge for those who deal with natural diamonds.
"It's a challenge, we are effectively aware of this, we are even working for an international organization, for the Natural Diamond Association, we have already had several meetings in order to find agreement to promote natural diamonds", he noted.
