Mining in Angola
Encyclopedia
Mining in Angola is an activity with great economic potential since the country has one of the largest and most diversified mining
resources of Africa
. Angola
is the third largest producer of diamond
s in Africa and has only explored 40% of the diamond-rich territory within the country, but has had difficulty in attracting foreign investment because of corruption, human rights violations, and diamond smuggling. Production rose by 30% in 2006 and Endiama
, the national diamond company of Angola, expects production to increase by 8% in 2007 to 10000000 carats (2,000 kg) annually. The government is trying to attract foreign companies to the provinces
of Bié
, Malanje
and Uíge
. Angola has also historically been a major producer of iron
ore.
, Benguela
and Moçâmedes
and their hinterland. They used these vantage points in order to play a pivotal role in the Atlantic slave trade
]: until 1830 well over a million Angolan people were exported as slaves, mainly to Brazil
, but also to the Caribbean
and North America
. They obtained slaves through raiding, but mostly by buying them from key figures in the African kingdoms East of Luanda. Territorial conquests were hesitantly attempted during the 19th century, but the occupation of what then became Angola was not achieved before the 1920s. During the Portuguese’s colonial rule of Angola cities, towns and villages were founded, railroads were opened, ports built, and a Westernized society was being gradually developed. Since the 1920s, Portugal's administration showed an increasing interest in developing the countries' economy and social infrustructure. In 1956 the People’s Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) began to fight Portuguese rule and the forced labor camps that many of the people were relocated from their homes. In 1974 the Carnation Revolution
in Portugal caused the Estado Novo regime to collapse, and Angola become independent from Portugal in 1975.
Jonas Savimbi
’s UNITA
movement began fighting his political rivals soon after independence and gained the support of the United States and South Africa. The MPLA was led by José Eduardo dos Santos
, who declared himself president of the country with the backing of Cuba and founded a social communist government. Unrest occurs for the next 27 years between the two groups of Unita and the MPLA, but in the early 1990s Unita loses support from the United States and South Africa due to their refusal to accept the MPLA as the new form of government. Cuba also pulls out from the civil war leaving the MPLA and Unita to fight each other with no outside support from world powers.
During the war the diamond mines where constantly being fought over making it unsafe for miners to work, and usually after the mine was taken by the other side there would be land mines planted everywhere. This made it difficult to extract the diamonds but did not prevent the MPLA or Unita to use the diamonds to help fund the war. The constant military spending due to the vast amount of diamonds and oil in the country could have funded the war for another 27 years but the Unita leader Savimbi was killed by MPLA soldiers in 2002 which led to an almost immediate cease fire.
in the northeast. In 1917 Diamang was granted the concession for diamond mining and prospecting, which it held until independence. Control over the company was obtained by the government in 1977. In April 1979, a general law on mining activities (Law 5/79) was enacted and gave the state the exclusive right to prospect for and exploit minerals. Accordingly, a state diamond-mining enterprise, the National Diamond Company (Emprêsa Nacional de Diamantes--Endiama
), was founded in 1981 and acquired the government's 77 percent share in Diamang. UNITA
, which selected the diamond mining industry as a principal target, soon crippled mining efforts, and by the beginning of 1986 the two foreign companies involved in servicing and operating the industry pulled out of Angola. By mid-1986 Diamang was formally dissolved, leaving large outstanding debts.
Attacks by UNITA on mining centers, disruption of transport routes, and widespread theft and smuggling caused diamond sales to fall to US$33 million by 1985 and to an estimated US$15 million in 1986. In late 1986, Roan Selection Trust (RST) International, a subsidiary of the Luxembourg-registered holding company ITM International, began mining in the Cafunfo
area, along the Cuango River, the site of Angola's most valuable alluvial diamond deposits (see fig. 9). Mining had been halted there for more than two years after UNITA attacked the mining camp in February 1984, kidnapping seventy-seven expatriate workers and severely damaging the mining equipment. After the subsequent kidnapping of a British expatriate in November 1986, defense forces in the area were strengthened, allowing the resumption of mining operations. In 1987 production there averaged 60000 carats (12 kg), and about 120000 carats (24 kg) were produced in the other two mining areas, Andrada and Lucapa. By 1987 diamond production had risen to 750000 carats (150 kg), compared with less than 400000 carats (80 kg) produced in 1986. The 1987 figure, however, was still not much more than 1985 production and only a little over half of 1980 output (see table 9, Appendix A).
This increase in production has benefited from the rise in the price per carat received for Angolan diamonds. The resumption of mining in the area along the Cuango River and a decline in theft of stones of higher value in the Andrada
and Lucapa
areas have increased the value of output. Furthermore, Endiama, which was responsible for overseeing the industry and for holding monthly sales, has benefited from a general improvement in the world diamond market as well as dealers' willingness to pay higher prices in the hope of securing favored treatment in the future. As a result, average carat value established by the monthly sales in 1987 exceeded US$110, more than twice as much as in 1985 (US$45) and at its highest level since 1981 (US$119).
In 1987 Endiama signed a two-year mining contract with the Portuguese Enterprises Corporation (Sociedade Portuguesa de Empreendimentos--SPE), a Portuguese company that has retained a large number of Portuguese technicians previously employed by Diamang. Former Diamang shareholders founded SPE in 1979 after Diamang was nationalized. The precise terms of the contract were not made public, but it was thought that the company would undertake new prospecting, which had been at a virtual standstill since independence. Through a subsidiary, the SPE also was to help Endiama with diamond valuation, which a British company had been carrying out. In December 1987, Angola also signed an agreement with the Soviet Union to cooperate in mining diamonds and quartz. Under the terms of the agreement, the Soviet Union was to participate in mining enterprises and was to draw up a detailed geological map of Angola.
In 1987 the government also began to revise the 1979 mining law to encourage new companies to invest in the diamond-mining industry, in particular to resume prospecting. Among the companies believed to be considering investing in 1988 was Britain's Lonrho conglomerate, which had taken an increasingly active interest in Angola in the late 1980s. The South African diamond-mining giant DeBeers was also interested after it lost its exclusive marketing rights for Angolan diamonds at the end of 1985 because of government suspicions that DeBeers had devalued Angolan diamonds. DeBeers has expressed interest in studying the kimberlite pipes (deep, subsurface deposits), which, because of the depletion of the alluvial deposits, were thought to represent the future of the Angolan diamond industry.
Angola is the third largest producer of diamonds in Africa and has only explored 40% of the diamond-rich territory within the country, but has had difficulty in attracting foreign investment because of corruption, human rights violations, and diamond smuggling. Production rose by 30% in 2006 and Endiama
, the national diamond company of Angola, expects production to increase by 8% in 2007 to 10000000 carats (2,000 kg) annually. The government is trying to attract foreign companies to the provinces
of Bié
, Malanje
and Uíge
.
The Angolan government loses $375 million annually from diamond smuggling. In 2003 the government began Operation Brilliant, an anti-smuggling investigation that arrested and deported 250,000 smugglers between 2003 and 2006. Rafael Marques
, a journalist and human rights activist, described the diamond industry in his 2006 Angola's Deadly Diamonds report as plagued by "murders, beatings, arbitrary detentions and other human rights violations." Marques called on foreign countries to boycott Angola's "conflict diamonds."
, diamonds are the second leading export for the country behind oil, yet the extraction of these gems causes harm to plants, water, and soil. Of the two main methods of extracting diamonds (kimberlite
pipe mining and alluvial mining), pipe mining has the larger impact. Large sections of rock are removed by means of heavy machinery and hauled away to screening plants to search for diamonds. In order for the machines and trucks to navigate, roads must be built, segregating the land. Catoca diamond mine
(9.402323°N 20.3005028°W) is one where issues of environmental impacts were taken into consideration when building the mine. It is said that this particular mine holds about 60000000 carats (12,000 kg) worth of reserves Other mines, however, were not designed to reduce environmental impacts. Aside from the removal of mass amounts of land for mining, the soil is being leached of nutrients as the diamond extraction takes place.
As mentioned above, pipe mining affects plants through the building of roads as well as other ways. Forests are disrupted when machinery uproots trees to make roadways to the mines. Also it is estimated that about one ton of earth must be removed for the production of less than 1 carat (0.2 g). It is estimated that soon the Catoca diamond mine will be producing up to 5000000 carats (1,000 kg) annually which will translate to almost 10000000 lb (4,535,923.7 kg) of earth removed each year. Once this land is disrupted, it is very tough for vegetation to re-grow in these areas.
Water quality is negatively affected by alluvial mining. Many rivers are diverted so that mines can be exposed and, although they can be returned to their natural state, they typically are left how they are. To do this, canals are created and short sections of the river are dammed. Soil deposits are also affecting the water quality as the land is being unearthed. The water becomes clouded by sediment and in result drinking water for animals is polluted. Oil and chemicals from the pipe mines seep into the ground and into the water supply. In places where water is already scarce, it is important to keep the water they have in good condition.
, Bié, Huambo
, and Huíla
provinces, and production reached an average of 5.7 million tons per year between 1970 and 1974. Most of the iron ore was shipped to Japan, West Germany, and Britain and earned almost US$50 million a year in export revenue. After independence, the government established a state company, the National Iron Ore Company of Angola (Emprêsa Nacional de Ferro de Angola--Ferrangol), for the exploration, mining, processing, and marketing of iron ore. Ferrangol contracted with Austromineral, an Austrian company, to repair facilities and organize production in Cassinga
. Production began to slow in 1974 as a result of technical problems at the Cassinga mine in Huíla Province and stopped completely in August 1975. The area fell under foreign control after South African forces invaded in 1975. Although South Africa withdrew its troops in early 1976, as of 1988 mining had not resumed in the area.
By 1988 the Cassinga mines had a production capacity of approximately 1.1 million tons per year. However, the railroad to the port of Namibe
(formerly Moçâmedes) needed extensive repair, and since it was located only 310 kilometers north of the Namibia
n border, security against South African attacks could not be ensured. Furthermore, UNITA was active in the area and posed a threat to the rail line if it were repaired. Even if these problems could be resolved, production of iron ore at Cassinga would be costly in view of the depressed state of the world steel market in the late 1980s.
, gold
, phosphate
s, granite
, marble
, uranium
, quartz
, lead
, zinc
, wolfram
, tin
, fluorite
, sulfur
, feldspar
, kaolin, mica
, asphalt
, gypsum
, and talc
. The government hoped to resume mining in the southwest for crystalline quartz and ornamental marble. It has been estimated that 5,000 cubic meters of marble could be extracted annually over a period of twenty years. A state-owned company mined granite and marble in Huíla and Namibe provinces and in 1983 produced 4,450 cubic meters of granite and 500 cubic meters of marble. Since then, the company has ceased production to re-equip with modern machinery. Quartz production, however, was suspended indefinitely because of the military situation in the areas close to the extraction sites in Cuanza Sul Province.
The government established a company in 1980 to exploit phosphate deposits located in the northwest. There were 50 million tons of deposits in Zaire Province and about 100 million tons in Cabinda. Although studies of the deposits in both locations have been made by Bulgarian and Yugoslav companies, as of 1988 production had not started at either site.
Mining
Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the earth, from an ore body, vein or seam. The term also includes the removal of soil. Materials recovered by mining include base metals, precious metals, iron, uranium, coal, diamonds, limestone, oil shale, rock...
resources of Africa
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
. Angola
Angola
Angola, officially the Republic of Angola , is a country in south-central Africa bordered by Namibia on the south, the Democratic Republic of the Congo on the north, and Zambia on the east; its west coast is on the Atlantic Ocean with Luanda as its capital city...
is the third largest producer of diamond
Diamond
In mineralogy, diamond is an allotrope of carbon, where the carbon atoms are arranged in a variation of the face-centered cubic crystal structure called a diamond lattice. Diamond is less stable than graphite, but the conversion rate from diamond to graphite is negligible at ambient conditions...
s in Africa and has only explored 40% of the diamond-rich territory within the country, but has had difficulty in attracting foreign investment because of corruption, human rights violations, and diamond smuggling. Production rose by 30% in 2006 and Endiama
Endiama
Endiama is the national diamond company of Angola and it is the exclusive concessionary of mining rights in the domain of diamonds. Angola's state-run diamond company Endiama produced 8.55 million carats of diamonds in 2010. Antonio Carlos Sumbula is the president of the corporation...
, the national diamond company of Angola, expects production to increase by 8% in 2007 to 10000000 carats (2,000 kg) annually. The government is trying to attract foreign companies to the provinces
Provinces of Angola
Angola is divided into eighteen provinces:-See also:* ISO 3166-2:AO, the ISO codes for Angola....
of Bié
Bié (province)
Bié is a province of Angola. Located on Bié Plateau in central part of country. Its capital is Kuito and it has an area of 70,314 km² and a population of approximately 800,000. Municipalities in the province include Andulo, Nharea, Cunhinga, Chinguar, Chitembo, Catabola, Camacupa and Cuemba...
, Malanje
Malanje (province)
Malanje is a province of Angola. It has an area of 97,602 km² and a population of approximately 900,000. Malanje is the capital of the province. Municipalities in this province include Massango, Marimba, Cunda-dia-Baza, Caombo, Calandula, Cacuzo, Cuaba Nzogo, Mucari, Quela, Cambundi-Catembo,...
and Uíge
Uíge (province)
Uíge , one of the eighteen Provinces of Angola, is located in the northwestern part of the country. Its capital city is of the same name. Municipalities within the province include Zombo, Quimbele, Damba, Mucaba, Bungu, Macocola, Bembe, Buengas, Sanza Pombo, Alto Cauale, Puri, Negage, Quitexe,...
. Angola has also historically been a major producer of iron
Iron
Iron is a chemical element with the symbol Fe and atomic number 26. It is a metal in the first transition series. It is the most common element forming the planet Earth as a whole, forming much of Earth's outer and inner core. It is the fourth most common element in the Earth's crust...
ore.
Angola's history in brief
The Portuguese arrived 1475 at the coast of what today is Angola. Until the 19th century, they practically remained confined to the bridgeheads of LuandaLuanda
Luanda, formerly named São Paulo da Assunção de Loanda, is the capital and largest city of Angola. Located on Angola's coast with the Atlantic Ocean, Luanda is both Angola's chief seaport and its administrative center. It has a population of at least 5 million...
, Benguela
Benguela
Benguela is a city in western Angola, south of Luanda, and capital of Benguela Province. It lies on a bay of the same name, in 12° 33’ S., 13° 25’ E...
and Moçâmedes
Moçamedes
Moçâmedes may refer to:*Moçâmedes, was the name of a region and its chief city in the Portuguese Overseas Province of Angola, the present-day Namibe province and city, in South-Western Angola....
and their hinterland. They used these vantage points in order to play a pivotal role in the Atlantic slave trade
Atlantic slave trade
The Atlantic slave trade, also known as the trans-atlantic slave trade, refers to the trade in slaves that took place across the Atlantic ocean from the sixteenth through to the nineteenth centuries...
]: until 1830 well over a million Angolan people were exported as slaves, mainly to Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
, but also to the Caribbean
Caribbean
The Caribbean is a crescent-shaped group of islands more than 2,000 miles long separating the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, to the west and south, from the Atlantic Ocean, to the east and north...
and North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
. They obtained slaves through raiding, but mostly by buying them from key figures in the African kingdoms East of Luanda. Territorial conquests were hesitantly attempted during the 19th century, but the occupation of what then became Angola was not achieved before the 1920s. During the Portuguese’s colonial rule of Angola cities, towns and villages were founded, railroads were opened, ports built, and a Westernized society was being gradually developed. Since the 1920s, Portugal's administration showed an increasing interest in developing the countries' economy and social infrustructure. In 1956 the People’s Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) began to fight Portuguese rule and the forced labor camps that many of the people were relocated from their homes. In 1974 the Carnation Revolution
Carnation Revolution
The Carnation Revolution , also referred to as the 25 de Abril , was a military coup started on 25 April 1974, in Lisbon, Portugal, coupled with an unanticipated and extensive campaign of civil resistance...
in Portugal caused the Estado Novo regime to collapse, and Angola become independent from Portugal in 1975.
Jonas Savimbi
Jonas Savimbi
Jonas Malheiro Savimbi was an Angolan political leader. He founded and led UNITA, a movement that first waged a guerrilla war against Portuguese colonial rule, 1966–1974, then confronted the rival MPLA during the decolonization conflict, 1974/75, and after independence in 1975 fought the ruling...
’s UNITA
UNITA
The National Union for the Total Independence of Angola is the second-largest political party in Angola. Founded in 1966, UNITA fought with the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola in the Angolan War for Independence and then against the MPLA in the ensuing civil war .The war was one...
movement began fighting his political rivals soon after independence and gained the support of the United States and South Africa. The MPLA was led by José Eduardo dos Santos
José Eduardo dos Santos
José Eduardo dos Santos is an Angolan politician who has been the second and current President of Angola since 1979. As President, José Eduardo dos Santos is also the commander in chief of the Angolan Armed Forces and president of the MPLA , the party that has been ruling Angola since...
, who declared himself president of the country with the backing of Cuba and founded a social communist government. Unrest occurs for the next 27 years between the two groups of Unita and the MPLA, but in the early 1990s Unita loses support from the United States and South Africa due to their refusal to accept the MPLA as the new form of government. Cuba also pulls out from the civil war leaving the MPLA and Unita to fight each other with no outside support from world powers.
During the war the diamond mines where constantly being fought over making it unsafe for miners to work, and usually after the mine was taken by the other side there would be land mines planted everywhere. This made it difficult to extract the diamonds but did not prevent the MPLA or Unita to use the diamonds to help fund the war. The constant military spending due to the vast amount of diamonds and oil in the country could have funded the war for another 27 years but the Unita leader Savimbi was killed by MPLA soldiers in 2002 which led to an almost immediate cease fire.
Diamonds
Although there are some reports of diamonds being exported from Angola by the Portuguese as early as the eighteenth century, modern diamond mining began in 1912, when the gems were discovered in a stream in the Lunda regionLunda Norte
Lunda Norte is a province of Angola. It has an area of 103,000 km² and a population of approximately 850,000. Angola's first President, Agostino Neto, made Lucapa the provincial capital after independence, but the capital was later moved to Dundo. Municipalities in this province includeShah-Muteba,...
in the northeast. In 1917 Diamang was granted the concession for diamond mining and prospecting, which it held until independence. Control over the company was obtained by the government in 1977. In April 1979, a general law on mining activities (Law 5/79) was enacted and gave the state the exclusive right to prospect for and exploit minerals. Accordingly, a state diamond-mining enterprise, the National Diamond Company (Emprêsa Nacional de Diamantes--Endiama
Endiama
Endiama is the national diamond company of Angola and it is the exclusive concessionary of mining rights in the domain of diamonds. Angola's state-run diamond company Endiama produced 8.55 million carats of diamonds in 2010. Antonio Carlos Sumbula is the president of the corporation...
), was founded in 1981 and acquired the government's 77 percent share in Diamang. UNITA
UNITA
The National Union for the Total Independence of Angola is the second-largest political party in Angola. Founded in 1966, UNITA fought with the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola in the Angolan War for Independence and then against the MPLA in the ensuing civil war .The war was one...
, which selected the diamond mining industry as a principal target, soon crippled mining efforts, and by the beginning of 1986 the two foreign companies involved in servicing and operating the industry pulled out of Angola. By mid-1986 Diamang was formally dissolved, leaving large outstanding debts.
Attacks by UNITA on mining centers, disruption of transport routes, and widespread theft and smuggling caused diamond sales to fall to US$33 million by 1985 and to an estimated US$15 million in 1986. In late 1986, Roan Selection Trust (RST) International, a subsidiary of the Luxembourg-registered holding company ITM International, began mining in the Cafunfo
Cafunfo
Cafunfo is a village in North-Eastern Angola dominated by the informal and formal diamond mining industries. The area has numerous alluvial diamond deposits....
area, along the Cuango River, the site of Angola's most valuable alluvial diamond deposits (see fig. 9). Mining had been halted there for more than two years after UNITA attacked the mining camp in February 1984, kidnapping seventy-seven expatriate workers and severely damaging the mining equipment. After the subsequent kidnapping of a British expatriate in November 1986, defense forces in the area were strengthened, allowing the resumption of mining operations. In 1987 production there averaged 60000 carats (12 kg), and about 120000 carats (24 kg) were produced in the other two mining areas, Andrada and Lucapa. By 1987 diamond production had risen to 750000 carats (150 kg), compared with less than 400000 carats (80 kg) produced in 1986. The 1987 figure, however, was still not much more than 1985 production and only a little over half of 1980 output (see table 9, Appendix A).
This increase in production has benefited from the rise in the price per carat received for Angolan diamonds. The resumption of mining in the area along the Cuango River and a decline in theft of stones of higher value in the Andrada
Andrada
Andrada may refer to:*Alonso Andrada , a biographer and ascetic writer*Diogo de Paiva de Andrada , Portuguese theologian born at Coimbra...
and Lucapa
Lucapa
Lucapa is a town located in eastern Angola. It is the administrative capital of Lunda Norte Province.Its population is difficult to estimate as it has changed greatly over the last 15 years due to internal displacement caused by civil war and the subsequent resettlement.The primary industry in the...
areas have increased the value of output. Furthermore, Endiama, which was responsible for overseeing the industry and for holding monthly sales, has benefited from a general improvement in the world diamond market as well as dealers' willingness to pay higher prices in the hope of securing favored treatment in the future. As a result, average carat value established by the monthly sales in 1987 exceeded US$110, more than twice as much as in 1985 (US$45) and at its highest level since 1981 (US$119).
In 1987 Endiama signed a two-year mining contract with the Portuguese Enterprises Corporation (Sociedade Portuguesa de Empreendimentos--SPE), a Portuguese company that has retained a large number of Portuguese technicians previously employed by Diamang. Former Diamang shareholders founded SPE in 1979 after Diamang was nationalized. The precise terms of the contract were not made public, but it was thought that the company would undertake new prospecting, which had been at a virtual standstill since independence. Through a subsidiary, the SPE also was to help Endiama with diamond valuation, which a British company had been carrying out. In December 1987, Angola also signed an agreement with the Soviet Union to cooperate in mining diamonds and quartz. Under the terms of the agreement, the Soviet Union was to participate in mining enterprises and was to draw up a detailed geological map of Angola.
In 1987 the government also began to revise the 1979 mining law to encourage new companies to invest in the diamond-mining industry, in particular to resume prospecting. Among the companies believed to be considering investing in 1988 was Britain's Lonrho conglomerate, which had taken an increasingly active interest in Angola in the late 1980s. The South African diamond-mining giant DeBeers was also interested after it lost its exclusive marketing rights for Angolan diamonds at the end of 1985 because of government suspicions that DeBeers had devalued Angolan diamonds. DeBeers has expressed interest in studying the kimberlite pipes (deep, subsurface deposits), which, because of the depletion of the alluvial deposits, were thought to represent the future of the Angolan diamond industry.
Angola is the third largest producer of diamonds in Africa and has only explored 40% of the diamond-rich territory within the country, but has had difficulty in attracting foreign investment because of corruption, human rights violations, and diamond smuggling. Production rose by 30% in 2006 and Endiama
Endiama
Endiama is the national diamond company of Angola and it is the exclusive concessionary of mining rights in the domain of diamonds. Angola's state-run diamond company Endiama produced 8.55 million carats of diamonds in 2010. Antonio Carlos Sumbula is the president of the corporation...
, the national diamond company of Angola, expects production to increase by 8% in 2007 to 10000000 carats (2,000 kg) annually. The government is trying to attract foreign companies to the provinces
Provinces of Angola
Angola is divided into eighteen provinces:-See also:* ISO 3166-2:AO, the ISO codes for Angola....
of Bié
Bié (province)
Bié is a province of Angola. Located on Bié Plateau in central part of country. Its capital is Kuito and it has an area of 70,314 km² and a population of approximately 800,000. Municipalities in the province include Andulo, Nharea, Cunhinga, Chinguar, Chitembo, Catabola, Camacupa and Cuemba...
, Malanje
Malanje (province)
Malanje is a province of Angola. It has an area of 97,602 km² and a population of approximately 900,000. Malanje is the capital of the province. Municipalities in this province include Massango, Marimba, Cunda-dia-Baza, Caombo, Calandula, Cacuzo, Cuaba Nzogo, Mucari, Quela, Cambundi-Catembo,...
and Uíge
Uíge (province)
Uíge , one of the eighteen Provinces of Angola, is located in the northwestern part of the country. Its capital city is of the same name. Municipalities within the province include Zombo, Quimbele, Damba, Mucaba, Bungu, Macocola, Bembe, Buengas, Sanza Pombo, Alto Cauale, Puri, Negage, Quitexe,...
.
The Angolan government loses $375 million annually from diamond smuggling. In 2003 the government began Operation Brilliant, an anti-smuggling investigation that arrested and deported 250,000 smugglers between 2003 and 2006. Rafael Marques
Rafael Marques
Rafael Marques de Morais is a journalist and human rights activist whose reports on the diamond industry and government corruption have earned him international acclaim...
, a journalist and human rights activist, described the diamond industry in his 2006 Angola's Deadly Diamonds report as plagued by "murders, beatings, arbitrary detentions and other human rights violations." Marques called on foreign countries to boycott Angola's "conflict diamonds."
Environmental impacts of diamond mining
In AngolaAngola
Angola, officially the Republic of Angola , is a country in south-central Africa bordered by Namibia on the south, the Democratic Republic of the Congo on the north, and Zambia on the east; its west coast is on the Atlantic Ocean with Luanda as its capital city...
, diamonds are the second leading export for the country behind oil, yet the extraction of these gems causes harm to plants, water, and soil. Of the two main methods of extracting diamonds (kimberlite
Kimberlite
Kimberlite is a type of potassic volcanic rock best known for sometimes containing diamonds. It is named after the town of Kimberley in South Africa, where the discovery of an diamond in 1871 spawned a diamond rush, eventually creating the Big Hole....
pipe mining and alluvial mining), pipe mining has the larger impact. Large sections of rock are removed by means of heavy machinery and hauled away to screening plants to search for diamonds. In order for the machines and trucks to navigate, roads must be built, segregating the land. Catoca diamond mine
Catoca diamond mine
The Catoca diamond mine is the fourth largest diamond mine in the world, and is located in Angola. The mine is owned by a consortium of international mining interests, including Endiama , Alrosa of Russia , Odebrecht of Brazil , and the Diamond Finance CY BV Group...
(9.402323°N 20.3005028°W) is one where issues of environmental impacts were taken into consideration when building the mine. It is said that this particular mine holds about 60000000 carats (12,000 kg) worth of reserves Other mines, however, were not designed to reduce environmental impacts. Aside from the removal of mass amounts of land for mining, the soil is being leached of nutrients as the diamond extraction takes place.
As mentioned above, pipe mining affects plants through the building of roads as well as other ways. Forests are disrupted when machinery uproots trees to make roadways to the mines. Also it is estimated that about one ton of earth must be removed for the production of less than 1 carat (0.2 g). It is estimated that soon the Catoca diamond mine will be producing up to 5000000 carats (1,000 kg) annually which will translate to almost 10000000 lb (4,535,923.7 kg) of earth removed each year. Once this land is disrupted, it is very tough for vegetation to re-grow in these areas.
Water quality is negatively affected by alluvial mining. Many rivers are diverted so that mines can be exposed and, although they can be returned to their natural state, they typically are left how they are. To do this, canals are created and short sections of the river are dammed. Soil deposits are also affecting the water quality as the land is being unearthed. The water becomes clouded by sediment and in result drinking water for animals is polluted. Oil and chemicals from the pipe mines seep into the ground and into the water supply. In places where water is already scarce, it is important to keep the water they have in good condition.
Mining policies
Many environmental policies have been enacted over the past two decades due to the threat that mining has on ecosystems and biodiversity in many regions in the world. Angola is located in one of the top five threatened hotspots in the world with the Congolean forest that is located in the country as being endangered due to poor mining practices. Agenda 21: 1992 Earth Summit, asked transnational companies to reduce environmental damage on developed countries to begin sustainable consumption. Convention on Biological Diversity: Articles that were created to prevent and respond to activities and impacts that threaten biodiversity. Intergovernmental Panel on Forests: National forest program that addresses industrial development, agriculture, and energy to avoid bad policy choices that could affect forests negatively such as mining. Berlin Guidelines: UN Department of Technical Co-operation for Development, stresses environmental stewardship in mining. UNCTAD: A project that integrates mining activity with planning for a sustainable future.Angola's economic development after the civil war
Due to the vast amount of natural resources in the country the GDP has a current growth rate of 16.3%. The growth that has occurred is due to the civil war finally being over which allowed American companies to come into the country to set up oil drills and open new diamond mines. But the economic growth of the country is not dispersed to stimulate development within the population where 65% are living on one dollar a day. There are also millions of refugees and former Unita and MPLA soldiers living in camps across the country with Malaria and Dysentery widespread.Development for the future
To provide sustainable jobs and income for the millions of displaced Angolan people will involve developing agriculture and industry that is not reliant on non-renewable resources. The price of diamonds is going down due to the large mines opening in Russia and China, and oil is not owned by the people, with uneven allocation of funds occurring between politicians and oil companies. Angola has large rivers and delta regions, which could be dammed to create electricity to export to neighboring countries.Iron ore
Once one of the country's major exports, iron ore was no longer mined in the late 1980s because of security and transportation problems. From the mid-1950s until 1975, iron ore was mined in MalanjeMalanje
Malanje is the capital city of Malanje Province in Angola with a population of approximately 222,000. Nearby is the spectacular Calandula waterfalls, 85 km from the city. These falls are 105 metres high and their great width makes them the main tourist attraction in the region. It is a...
, Bié, Huambo
Huambo
Huambo, formerly Nova Lisboa , is the capital of Huambo province in Angola. The city is located about 220 km E from Benguela and 600 km SE from Luanda. The city's last known population count was 225,268...
, and Huíla
Huila
Huila may refer to:* Huila Department, in Colombia* Atlético Huila a first division Association football team in Colombia.* Huíla Province, in Angola* Nevado del Huila, volcano in Colombia...
provinces, and production reached an average of 5.7 million tons per year between 1970 and 1974. Most of the iron ore was shipped to Japan, West Germany, and Britain and earned almost US$50 million a year in export revenue. After independence, the government established a state company, the National Iron Ore Company of Angola (Emprêsa Nacional de Ferro de Angola--Ferrangol), for the exploration, mining, processing, and marketing of iron ore. Ferrangol contracted with Austromineral, an Austrian company, to repair facilities and organize production in Cassinga
Cassinga
Cassinga is a former town in the Huíla province of southern Angola.The transliteration Kassinga is also commonly used, with the "K" being a mutation of the original Portuguese name either by German miners, or by indigenous people in whose language the letter "K" is also common...
. Production began to slow in 1974 as a result of technical problems at the Cassinga mine in Huíla Province and stopped completely in August 1975. The area fell under foreign control after South African forces invaded in 1975. Although South Africa withdrew its troops in early 1976, as of 1988 mining had not resumed in the area.
By 1988 the Cassinga mines had a production capacity of approximately 1.1 million tons per year. However, the railroad to the port of Namibe
Namibe
Namibe is the capital city of Namibe Province in Angola. It is a coastal desert city located in southwestern Angola and was founded in 1840 by the Portuguese rulers of the territory. The city's current population is 132,900...
(formerly Moçâmedes) needed extensive repair, and since it was located only 310 kilometers north of the Namibia
Namibia
Namibia, officially the Republic of Namibia , is a country in southern Africa whose western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Angola and Zambia to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and east. It gained independence from South Africa on 21 March...
n border, security against South African attacks could not be ensured. Furthermore, UNITA was active in the area and posed a threat to the rail line if it were repaired. Even if these problems could be resolved, production of iron ore at Cassinga would be costly in view of the depressed state of the world steel market in the late 1980s.
Other minerals
In addition to diamonds and iron ore, Angola is also rich in several other mineral resources that had not been fully exploited by the late 1980s. These include manganese, copperCopper
Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu and atomic number 29. It is a ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. Pure copper is soft and malleable; an exposed surface has a reddish-orange tarnish...
, gold
Gold
Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au and an atomic number of 79. Gold is a dense, soft, shiny, malleable and ductile metal. Pure gold has a bright yellow color and luster traditionally considered attractive, which it maintains without oxidizing in air or water. Chemically, gold is a...
, phosphate
Phosphate
A phosphate, an inorganic chemical, is a salt of phosphoric acid. In organic chemistry, a phosphate, or organophosphate, is an ester of phosphoric acid. Organic phosphates are important in biochemistry and biogeochemistry or ecology. Inorganic phosphates are mined to obtain phosphorus for use in...
s, granite
Granite
Granite is a common and widely occurring type of intrusive, felsic, igneous rock. Granite usually has a medium- to coarse-grained texture. Occasionally some individual crystals are larger than the groundmass, in which case the texture is known as porphyritic. A granitic rock with a porphyritic...
, marble
Marble
Marble is a metamorphic rock composed of recrystallized carbonate minerals, most commonly calcite or dolomite.Geologists use the term "marble" to refer to metamorphosed limestone; however stonemasons use the term more broadly to encompass unmetamorphosed limestone.Marble is commonly used for...
, uranium
Uranium
Uranium is a silvery-white metallic chemical element in the actinide series of the periodic table, with atomic number 92. It is assigned the chemical symbol U. A uranium atom has 92 protons and 92 electrons, of which 6 are valence electrons...
, quartz
Quartz
Quartz is the second-most-abundant mineral in the Earth's continental crust, after feldspar. It is made up of a continuous framework of SiO4 silicon–oxygen tetrahedra, with each oxygen being shared between two tetrahedra, giving an overall formula SiO2. There are many different varieties of quartz,...
, lead
Lead
Lead is a main-group element in the carbon group with the symbol Pb and atomic number 82. Lead is a soft, malleable poor metal. It is also counted as one of the heavy metals. Metallic lead has a bluish-white color after being freshly cut, but it soon tarnishes to a dull grayish color when exposed...
, zinc
Zinc
Zinc , or spelter , is a metallic chemical element; it has the symbol Zn and atomic number 30. It is the first element in group 12 of the periodic table. Zinc is, in some respects, chemically similar to magnesium, because its ion is of similar size and its only common oxidation state is +2...
, wolfram
Wolfram
Wolfram may refer to:* Wolfram, the chemical element tungsten* Wolfram syndrome, genetic condition* Wolfram Research, software company* Wolfram Alpha, interactive Web site...
, tin
Tin
Tin is a chemical element with the symbol Sn and atomic number 50. It is a main group metal in group 14 of the periodic table. Tin shows chemical similarity to both neighboring group 14 elements, germanium and lead and has two possible oxidation states, +2 and the slightly more stable +4...
, fluorite
Fluorite
Fluorite is a halide mineral composed of calcium fluoride, CaF2. It is an isometric mineral with a cubic habit, though octahedral and more complex isometric forms are not uncommon...
, sulfur
Sulfur
Sulfur or sulphur is the chemical element with atomic number 16. In the periodic table it is represented by the symbol S. It is an abundant, multivalent non-metal. Under normal conditions, sulfur atoms form cyclic octatomic molecules with chemical formula S8. Elemental sulfur is a bright yellow...
, feldspar
Feldspar
Feldspars are a group of rock-forming tectosilicate minerals which make up as much as 60% of the Earth's crust....
, kaolin, mica
Mica
The mica group of sheet silicate minerals includes several closely related materials having highly perfect basal cleavage. All are monoclinic, with a tendency towards pseudohexagonal crystals, and are similar in chemical composition...
, asphalt
Asphalt
Asphalt or , also known as bitumen, is a sticky, black and highly viscous liquid or semi-solid that is present in most crude petroleums and in some natural deposits, it is a substance classed as a pitch...
, gypsum
Gypsum
Gypsum is a very soft sulfate mineral composed of calcium sulfate dihydrate, with the chemical formula CaSO4·2H2O. It is found in alabaster, a decorative stone used in Ancient Egypt. It is the second softest mineral on the Mohs Hardness Scale...
, and talc
Talc
Talc is a mineral composed of hydrated magnesium silicate with the chemical formula H2Mg34 or Mg3Si4O102. In loose form, it is the widely-used substance known as talcum powder. It occurs as foliated to fibrous masses, its crystals being so rare as to be almost unknown...
. The government hoped to resume mining in the southwest for crystalline quartz and ornamental marble. It has been estimated that 5,000 cubic meters of marble could be extracted annually over a period of twenty years. A state-owned company mined granite and marble in Huíla and Namibe provinces and in 1983 produced 4,450 cubic meters of granite and 500 cubic meters of marble. Since then, the company has ceased production to re-equip with modern machinery. Quartz production, however, was suspended indefinitely because of the military situation in the areas close to the extraction sites in Cuanza Sul Province.
The government established a company in 1980 to exploit phosphate deposits located in the northwest. There were 50 million tons of deposits in Zaire Province and about 100 million tons in Cabinda. Although studies of the deposits in both locations have been made by Bulgarian and Yugoslav companies, as of 1988 production had not started at either site.