Recently ALROSA President Andrey Zharkov met with Vice President of Angola Manuel Vicente in Luanda. The meeting was held as part of Andrey Zharkov’s first working visit to Angola.

Officials from the relevant Angolan ministries and representatives of the local business community also took part in the discussions, which centered on opportunities to strengthen cooperation and ALROSA’s participation in the development of new projects in Angola. Attention was also given to the prospects of developing and improving the performance of the Catoca Ltd. joint mining venture, as well as implementing socially oriented projects.

Experts believe that Angola has a high potential for new large kimberlite discoveries. With this in mind, in 2014 ALROSA and Angola’s national diamond-mining company ENDIAMA E.P. established a joint venture for diamond prospecting and new mine development in the country.

According to ALROSA and the Angolan officials, new concessions, in particular, Tchiuzо and Luaxe Projects, are quite promising and, subject to confirmed availability of sufficient resources and commercial viability of their development, could be put into operation during the next ten years. Specific terms of ALROSA’s participation in investing in and mining at new deposits will be discussed following a comprehensive study of these projects.