The Angolan Minister of Mineral Resources, Oil and Gas, Diamantino Azevedo, said today, in Cabinda, that he has the Buco Zau gold project to feed the future gold refinery that Angola intends to build to refine this mineral in the country. On June 27 of last year, the same minister was present at the laying of the first stone for the construction of… the first gold refinery in Angola, in the Industrial Pole of Viana, predicting that the start of production would take place in February… 2023 .

Diamantino Azevedo was speaking today at the inauguration ceremony of the Buco Zau gold project, a gold project promoted by the Angolan company Mineração Buco Zau, located in Cabinda province, with an installed washing capacity of 150 tonnes/hour.

“The ministry is also committed, in addition to promoting more gold projects, to create a gold refinery, so that we can start refining gold here in our country and we are counting on the production of this venture, which we think in a while it will be bigger than what they presented here today”, said the minister.

According to Diamantino Azevedo, gold is an extremely important mineral, demonstrating the conviction that the promoters of this project will evolve into others, transmitting the experiences already acquired.

“The ministry and the National Agency for Mineral Resources are open for you to ask for more areas in this or other provinces of the country, to develop more mining projects, because for us it is a source of pride to see more projects emerging, projects that take care of the environment, the social aspects and, above all, projects made by Angolans, by Angolan companies”, he stressed.

Within the scope of the social area, the company has carried out social projects, with the involvement of the community, having collected 6,000 native plants that are being reproduced in nurseries and replanted around a thousand species in places where mining has already ended.

The minister congratulated the promoter for his courage and effort in bringing regarding a project, which took into account not only systemic geological aspects, but also environmental aspects, the preservation of native species, “fundamental so that at the end of the project’s useful life it becomes can recover and rehabilitate the area as much as possible according to what it was before”.

Diamantino de Azevedo said that the ministry wants to institute an award for mining companies that have the best social and environmental performance: “And we hope that you are the first to win this award that we want to institute”.

Also in the oil province of Cabinda, the ministerial delegation visited the integrated project for the exploration of phosphate rock and the manufacture of granulated phosphate fertilizers, which is used as raw material in the manufacture of fertilizers with NKP macronutrients — nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium, promoted by the company Minbos Resources.

According to a note from the Ministry of Mineral Resources, Oil and Gas, the project is in the mining development phase and has already started assembling equipment for the fertilizer factory in Subantando, located 13 kilometers from the city of Cabinda.

According to the general director of the project, Aserah Masoori, mining activity should start at the end of this year. The official stressed that they are still waiting for some licenses, namely the most important environmental one, for the start of production, with a capacity of between 30 and 33 tons per hour expected.

“We already have everything underway and the inspection is already taking place and as soon as we receive it we start cleaning and start construction”, said Aserah Masoori, stressing that all the components of the factory are already in Cabinda.

Angola will build the first gold refinery, which will cost US$4.8 million (€4.4 million), announced on June 27, 2022, the Minister of Mineral Resources, Oil and Gas, Diamantino Azevedo, justifying the work with the production flow of that metal.

Diamantino Azevedo was present on that day at the laying of the first stone for the construction of the first gold refinery in Angola, in the Industrial Pole of Viana.

The holder of the Mineral Resources, Oil and Gas portfolio underlined that the construction of this refinery, with an expected production capacity of up to 25 kilograms per day, is important for the precious metals subsector, with gold being the main product to be transformed in future refinery facilities.

According to the minister, since 2019, Angola has been on the list of gold producers and exporters, with emphasis on some projects in Huíla province.

The minister stressed that, at that time, there were 12 projects with exploration titles, five of which had already started their production and export and there were 40 projects with prospecting titles.

“With the entry into operation of the exploration projects, there has been a production flow whose quantities justify the implementation of a small to medium-sized gold refinery”, he stressed.

Diamantino Azevedo stressed that, with a view to complying with the executive’s actions, the ministerial body he directs directed Endiama, a state-owned diamond company, through Geoangol, to “find mechanisms for the implementation of this important undertaking, which will add value to the metals segment precious resources exploited in the country”.

The refinery, continued the minister, “will bring the possibility of transforming the raw metal into national soil, whose refined material can be used internally in various sectors of the economy, such as the technology area, jewelry, financial market, among others. , and/or export it”.

“On the other hand, with the implementation of this project, we will have created the real conditions for the gold produced locally to have a standard of excellence, to be accepted internationally, thus being able to reach the degree of purity accepted in the various stock exchanges, markets and institutions. finances,” he pointed out.

According to the minister, the refinery should have a laboratory with extremely qualified professionals and deserve high investment in technology, so that the metal to be refined has the most accurate assessment possible.

The refinery project is divided into three segments, namely refining, laboratory and contrasting, and production is expected to start in February 2023.

MPLA promises shine like gold

NIt is not for lack of promises, forecasts, commissions, dismissals and appointments that the “thing” does not move forward. Thus, in 2019, Angola expected the start of four gold exploration projects, which would guarantee (said the Government) a total annual production of 25 thousand ounces (more than 700 kilograms), informed in April 2019 the administrator of the state concessionaire Angolan Ferrangol.

Kayaya Cahala was speaking on April 15, 2019, in Luanda, at the lecture “Data on the Current Activity of Gold in Angola”, as part of the commemoration of the Angolan Mining Worker’s Day, which was celebrated on April 27.

According to the official, the Chipindo project, in the province of Huíla, started in 2011 (in the era of whom João Lourenço called “marimbondo”), is the most important and the most advanced, with its entry into production scheduled for the first half of 2019.

In an area of ​​664.30 square kilometres, the Chipindo mine has a useful life of seven years and would create 70 direct jobs. João Lourenço promised, remember, the creation of 500… thousand new jobs.

“Right now it is the most important thing, because the gold can already be seen, the extraction activity has already started and we are in a testing phase”, he said. The administrator said that secondary deposits were being explored, with reserves of 822,500 cubic meters.

Also at an advanced stage were the Buco-Zau projects, in the province of Cabinda, in an area of ​​322.80 square kilometers, with an estimated useful life of 57 years, taking into account the slow production pace to be printed in the first phase, with entry into production also expected in the first half of… 2019.

“The same thing will happen with the Lufo project in Cabinda, which has average resources of almost 150 thousand ounces”, said Kayaya Cahala.

The Lufo project, according to the official, was a little overdue, so its start-up was scheduled for the second half of 2019, which will last for 33 years, also due to a low volume of production.

Also due to start up in the second half of 2019, in October, was the Tiandai Mining project, in the municipality of Nambuangongo, Bengo province, of primary deposits, with reserves of 1.5 million tons.

“With the entry into operation of these projects, around 29,000 ounces are expected from 2019, to reach the peak, in 2022, of 35,000 ounces”, he said.

The Ferrangol administrator said that there are several investment intentions that the State receives, but their materialization is hampered by financial issues.

“There are several intentions, but the big problem is that it is not easy for investors to prove their capacity. Several come, but then they don’t materialize what they promise, they don’t go to the heart of the problem, this is the case of Mpopo, which started a long time ago, but which until now has not reached a production stage, ”he said.

The Mpopo project, in Huíla province, one of the first to be developed in 2009, had not yet reached the exploration stage in 2019, just for financial reasons.

“From a technical point of view there is no problem, the project has a feasibility study duly audited, approved, but the financial part prevents the start of work, at the moment we are making efforts to lease funds, hiring other strong business groups, so that they can start the exploration work”, he explained.

On gold prospecting, Kayaya Cahala admitted that it was a reality, that the authorities have created conditions for the safety of areas of mining activity.

“It is an issue that we cannot escape, avoid easily, because these are people who act in the dead of night. The excessive interest is what makes people spare no effort, face the forces of order and go to areas and develop activities, “she said.

Sheet 8 with Lusa