Africa-Press – Angola. The chairman of the Board of Management of Sociedade Mineira de Catoca, Benedito Paulo Manuel, informed, in Saurimo, province of Lunda-Sul, that the company’s tax revenue, sent to the state coffers, exceeded US$100 million.
In the wake of the commemorations of the 27th anniversary of Sociedade Mineira de Catoca, Benedito Paulo Manuel stressed that the amounts are related to Industrial and Labor Income Taxes (IRT) and other fees. “Although the mine went through a difficult period, the management met 100 percent of the tax revenue bill, including supplier accounts,” he said.
As for the production of diamonds, Benedito Paulo Manuel clarified that the Catoca Mine, which gives rise to the Society, predicted, in the periods 2020-2021, the production of 6.5 million carats, a result not materialized due to the emergence of the pandemic of Covid-19.
In 2021, the company recorded a net profit above 200 million dollars, while between 2015 and 2018 the cumulative income was 114 million. “Production was far below this value, because the potential allowed the quantity to go beyond what was expected”, he stressed.
The chairman of the Catoca Board of Management stressed that although the results did not reach the expected target, the expectation is that it is below the potential, in the order of 40 percent of production. To date the Society has produced 5.6 million carats of diamonds.
Covid-19 and losses
The phase of the Co-vid-19 pandemic was the most critical for Sociedade Mineira de Catoca, due to the high speed of contamination in the company’s staff. The official said that the contagion rates at the mine were high (more than two hundred cases registered), causing a slight stoppage that affected production. As a result of this constraint, the Company created an Emergency Committee, which established a contingency management on which the company lived and continues to be governed.
As for losses, Benedito Paulo Manuel highlighted that despite the Catoca Mine having produced out of schedule, it reached profitability levels equal to or higher than the pre-Co-vid-19 periods. However, the 2021 annual report must be approved on the 21st, at the General Assembly.
The current Catoca Mine has less than fourteen years of exploration ahead of it and should reach the exhaustion of reserves at a depth of 600 meters. However, he added, if no other form of mining is found, the Sociedade Mineira de Catoca may stop within this time horizon and cease to exist.
“We would be able to go below 600 meters deep, there are conditions for mining and if there are no conditions, we will have to go to other concessions to look for reserves”, he underlined. , the direction of Catoca intends to increase the reserves, developing a set of activities that go from prospecting below 600 meters of depth.
Workforce
Until the present year, Sociedade Mineira de Catoca worked with less than 60 percent of the workforce, below the required potential. Of these 60 percent, according to Benedito Paulo Manuel, not even 20 percent were teleworking.
However, the official assured that no worker was fired. “The bulk had been dismissed, waiting for the new indication, which allowed them to return”, he said.
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