The Luarica
diamond mine is a
diamond
Diamond is a Allotropes of carbon, solid form of the element carbon with its atoms arranged in a crystal structure called diamond cubic. Another solid form of carbon known as graphite is the Chemical stability, chemically stable form of car ...
mine
Mine, mines, miners or mining may refer to:
Extraction or digging
* Miner, a person engaged in mining or digging
*Mining, extraction of mineral resources from the ground through a mine
Grammar
*Mine, a first-person English possessive pronoun
...
located in
Angola
, national_anthem = " Angola Avante"()
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, capital = Luanda
, religion =
, religion_year = 2020
, religion_ref =
, coordina ...
. The mine is owned by a consortium of diamond mining companies, the two largest holders being
Endiama
Endiama E.P. (''Empresa Nacional de Diamantes E.P.'') 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 car ...
with 38 percent ownership and
Trans Hex with 32 percent ownership.
In 2004, the Luarica mine produced about 95,000
carats (19 kg) of diamond from over 632,000 cubic meters of
ore
Ore is natural rock or sediment that contains one or more valuable minerals, typically containing metals, that can be mined, treated and sold at a profit.Encyclopædia Britannica. "Ore". Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Retrieved 7 April 2 ...
processed. 84,000 carats (16.8 kg) of the production was sold in 2004, at an average price of over US$300 per carat (1500 $/g), a new high mark for Angolan diamond production.
Probable reserves are 1.3 million
cubic meters of ore at an
ore grade
Ore is natural Rock (geology), rock or sediment that contains one or more valuable minerals, typically containing metals, that can be mined, treated and sold at a profit.Encyclopædia Britannica. "Ore". Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Ret ...
of per 100 cubic meters (43.2 mg/m
3). There is a waste rock
overburden
In mining, overburden (also called waste or spoil) is the material that lies above an area that lends itself to economical exploitation, such as the rock, soil, and ecosystem that lies above a coal seam or ore body. Overburden is distinct from tai ...
of about 9.5 million cubic meters.
Mining operations were suspended in May 2009 due to a decline in diamond demand caused by the
late-2000s financial crisis. Trans Hex announced in August 2011 that it planned to withdraw from its two Angola joint-ventures with Endiama—Luarica and
Fucauma—after failing to reach an agreement with the government of Angola (which owns the other major partner, Endiama). Endiama stated that it planned to restart operations alone.
References
Trans Hex 2004 Annual Report Projecto Luarica at Endiama's site
*Republic of Angola, United Kingdom Embassy (October 2002)
Diamond mines in Angola
Surface mines in Angola
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