Catoca mine
The Catoca Mine is the fourth largest mine for mining rough diamonds in the world and is located in northeast Angola , around 30 kilometers northwest of Saurimo , Lunda Sul Province , on the border with the Democratic Republic of the Congo .
The mine is owned by an international consortium made up of Endiama , the state-owned mining company of Angola, and the Russian company ALROSA , each holding a 32.8% stake, as well as Odebrecht Mining Services from Brazil with a 16.4% stake and Lev Leviev's Daumonty Financing Company who owns 18%. In January 2018, Angolan President João Lourenço approved a new contract that increases ALROSA and Endiama’s stake to 41% each, after Odebrecht Mining Services sold their stake for $ 140 million, the remaining 18% belongs to LL International Holding BVChina Sonangol International Holding Ltd. is part of LL International Holding BV . with 18.0% and Odebrecht Mining Services Inc. with 16.4% (as of the end of 2018).
The mine uses a kimberlite - vent and is as open pit mining operation. In addition to a miners' housing estate, the mining operation also includes an approximately three-kilometer-long asphalt runway on which larger aircraft can take off and land.
The area around the mine was first explored by Russian society in the late 1980s, but the occupation of the area by UNITA made the start of exploitation impossible until 1996.
To extract one carat of rough diamond, a metric ton of overburden has to be moved in Catoca. The mine produces around 6.8 million carats (about 1.36 tons) annually. The mine has estimated reserves of approximately 60 million carats (around 12 tons). The value of dismantled here rough diamonds is from 75 to 100 US dollars per carat. Rough diamonds worth US $ 910 million were mined here between 1997 and 2003.
In 2009, diamonds from the Catoca mine had total sales of $ 122.6 million and net income of $ 70 million. Sales reached 7,050,521 carats at an average rate of $ 62.23, equivalent to 78 percent of diamond production across the country .
From the end of July 2021, waste from the mine polluted the tributaries of the Congo Kasai and Tshikapa in the neighboring Democratic Republic of the Congo to such an extent that by early September 2021 at least 4,000 people who had drunk water from the river or ate contaminated fish fell ill. Many suffered from diarrhea. Twelve people died. In addition, tons of dead fish and other aquatic animal carcasses are the result. Scientists called the pollution unprecedented for the Congo. According to the University of Kinshasa , the pollution affects up to two million people who live on the river banks.
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Angola - Mining: Diamond Mining - Overview ( English ) www.mbendi.co.za. Archived from the original on April 10, 2005. Retrieved July 21, 2008.
- ↑ Alrosa buys stake in Angola's largest diamond deposit for $ 70 million mining.com , January 12, 2018, accessed June 18, 2019.
- ↑ Angola: Odebrecht sells its interest in SMC for $ 140 million ecofinagency.com , January 18, 2018, accessed June 18, 2019.
- ↑ https://gjepc.org/news_detail.php?news=angola-s-sociedade-mineira-da-catoca-to-invest-us-330-mn-in-luaxe
- ↑ Diamond Industry Annual Review: Republic of Angola ( English , PDF) Partnership Africa Canada. 2004. Retrieved July 23, 2008.
- ↑ Catoca Diamond Mine, Angola . NASA Earthobservatory website. Retrieved July 21, 2008.
- ↑ Alrosa buys stake in Angola's largest diamond deposit for $ 70 million mining.com , January 12, 2018, accessed June 18, 2019.
- ↑ Red flood in the Congo: Deadly sewage from Angola . Deutsche Welle, September 3, 2021
- ↑ Jörg Römer: Congo suffers from environmental disaster: diamonds, red rivers and dead hippos. In: Der Spiegel. Retrieved September 7, 2021 .
Coordinates: 9 ° 24 ′ 21 ″ S , 20 ° 18 ′ 3 ″ E