Catoca diamond mine

Catoca diamond mine
	Satellite image of the mine from June 21, 2001. The light-red point in the north-east of the mine is a bush fire.
Location
	Catoca diamond mine Location in Angola
Country	Angola
Coordinates	09°23′56″S 020°18′03″E
Production
Products	Diamonds (2.6 million carats in 2001)
Owner
Company	Alrosa (32.8%) ; Endiama (32.8%) ; Odebrecht (16.4%) ; Diamond Finance CY BV Group (16.8%)

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 (the state mining company of Angola) (32.8% ownership), Alrosa of Russia (32.8%), Odebrecht of Brazil (16.4%), and the Diamond Finance CY BV Group (16.8%). The mine is located on a kimberlite pipe.

Production

The mine had production of 1.8 million carats (360 kg) in 2000 and 2.6 million carats (520 kg) in 2001. The mine's production is 35% gem quality, compared to a global average of 20%; the diamonds produced at Catoca have an average value of US$75–$100 per carat ($375–500/g). Estimated reserves are 60 million carats (12,000 kg).

The diamonds from Catoca Mining Society topped the sales of 2009, with a net profit of US$70 million, resulting from a gross production of US$122.6 million, Angop. The information is contained in an annual report from the company released in September 2011. According to the source, the sales reached 7,050,521 carat, at the average rate of US$62.23, a volume that represented about 78 percent of the amount sold by the diamond companies around the country. The note states that as a result of the processing of the ore, the company obtained a total of 7.5 million carat that permitted to establish the operational costs.

In 2012 the mine produced 6.5 million carats out of 10 million metric tons of ore production.[1]

Geology

The Catoca diamond deposit occurs in a kimberlite pipe.[2]

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References

McClelland, Colin. "Angola's Catoca Diamond Complex to Add Mill as Miners Dig Deeper". Bloomberg. Retrieved 2014-05-20.
Pervov, V. A., Somov, S. V., Korshunov, A. V., Dulapchii, E. V., & Félix, J. T. (2011). The Catoca kimberlite pipe, Republic of Angola: A paleovolcanological model. Geology of Ore Deposits, 53(4), 295-308.

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[1] McClelland, Colin. "Angola's Catoca Diamond Complex to Add Mill as Miners Dig Deeper". Bloomberg. Retrieved 2014-05-20.

[2] Pervov, V. A., Somov, S. V., Korshunov, A. V., Dulapchii, E. V., & Félix, J. T. (2011). The Catoca kimberlite pipe, Republic of Angola: A paleovolcanological model. Geology of Ore Deposits, 53(4), 295-308.