Africa-Press – Angola. The Minister of Mineral Resources, Oil and Gas, Diamantino Pedro Azevedo, defended Thursday, in the city of Huambo, sustainable exploration for the construction of a gold value chain, for the diversification of the national economy.
The minister was speaking at the workshop on Mineral Resources and the Gold Value Chain in Angola, which is taking place in the city of Huambo, in an initiative of the Ministerial Department.
On the occasion, he highlighted the need to capture concrete gold exploration projects, such as the construction of gold refineries, to promote social and economic development, through the employability of the national workforce.
He said that the Ministry of Mineral Resources, Oil and Gas is engaged in the creation of a legal tool for the regulation of gold and diamond exploration tasks, in order to discourage mining actions and all illegal situations.
Diamantino Pedro Azevedo recognized the existence of potential and capabilities to achieve social and economic self-sufficiency, with the participation of national and foreign businesspeople, in accordance with the requirements of the frameworks of Angolan legislation.
He recalled that with this bill the aim is to avoid the dispersion of financial revenues generated, through the potential of mineral resources existing in Angola, in order to provide economic values that will sustain the national economy, for the well-being of the population.
He mentioned that the capture of several projects in the mineral resources sector must be supported with an industrialization program capable of boosting development and, at the same time, reducing the import of essential economic products, to stimulate self-sufficiency and, consequently, the fight against poverty.
He highlighted the efforts of the Angolan Executive in building and increasing the production capacity of oil refineries in Cabinda, Soyo (Zaire), Lobito (Benguela) and Luanda, to reduce the import of fuel products.
The minister also announced the construction of a steel industry for the exploration of iron and the manufacture of steel in the country, whose projects are being developed to reduce the import of raw materials for civil construction.
He said that the same should be evident in the increase in refineries and diamond factories, fertilizers and other economic sectors, to capture financial revenue through the illicit exploitation of national mineral resources.
For her part, the governor of Huambo province, Lotti Nolika, pointed out illegal exploration as one of the biggest obstacles to the satisfactory development of the mining sector.
He informed that the Government of the province of Huambo works intensively with the National Police, to put an end to the illegal exploitation of mineral resources, aiming to promote social and economic growth without regional asymmetries.
Lotti Nolika said that the province of Huambo has 16 mineral prospecting projects for diamond, gold, copper, ferrous metals and rare earths.
Angola gains first gold refinery in 2025
Speaking to the press, on the sidelines of the event, the general director of Geoangol, Domingos Kimba Baptista, said that Angola will gain the first gold refinery in 2025, with an investment of nine million North American Dollars.
He added that the project includes training staff, building the factory and equipping it with cutting-edge, modernized equipment for economic promotion and gold certification in the country.
In this refinery, 25 kilograms of gold are processed daily, the construction of the respective industry registers a degree of physical execution in the order of 50 percent of which is being built in the province of Luanda.
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