Africa-Press – Angola. The Angolan Government wants a more diversified national mining production, in addition to what it normally produces, such as diamonds, gold, iron, granite, marble, said yesterday the adviser to the Minister of Mineral Resources, Oil and Gas, Makenda Ambroise.
To this end, said the advisor, Angola needs to start producing critical minerals (chromium, cobalt, copper, graphite, iron, lead, lithium, manganese, nickel and silver), in order to assume a fundamental role in the socio-economic development of the country, safeguarding public and social interests, towards decarbonization.
Mankenda Ambroise understands that, despite having a long way to go, the Angolan Executive intends to achieve this goal, not only because of the potential that Angola has, but also because, currently, critical minerals represent a business opportunity for the country.
“The whole world is moving towards decarbonisation, aiming to zero net emissions of greenhouse gases by 2050, and Angola is not left out taking into account its size of mining occurrences and the existing demand”, he stressed.
As an example, he said that many of the critical minerals are used in the manufacture of magnets for wind turbines, in addition to copper and niobium, making an important leap in terms of the exploration of critical minerals in the next five years.
On the other hand, he added that geological-mining research continued at the local and regional scale to expand knowledge of areas with potential for mining and create conditions for the development of projects with new investments.
He also informed that with enormous efforts made, there is currently a considerable number of licensed critical mining projects in the country, of which some are in the prospecting phase and others already in the exploration phase.
Based on the mining potential, said the official, Angola is and could be a reliable source for the development of projects that ensure the production of critical minerals needed for the energy transition, which should allow a significant part of the value chain of these minerals to be processed locally.
“The country has significant deposits of critical minerals and, currently, 36 of the 51 minerals considered most critical worldwide are known in Angola, some of which are about to go into production”, he explained.
According to the engineer, there is an urgent need to make better use of critical minerals in Angola. “Efforts and special attention are currently concentrated on minerals such as lithium, iron ore, nickel, lead, cobalt, copper, manganese and rare earth elements, aiming to cover the entire value chain”.
Mankenda Ambroise made these statements when speaking at the opening of the 2nd edition of the “Forum and Exhibition – Mining Business” which, among other topics, will address “The vision of banking and Bodiva and their degree of intervention in critical minerals”, “Products of insurance for strategic minerals”, Downstream market and critical minerals”, and “The transport sector to services of the mining industry in transition”.
The forum lasts for two days and will discuss issues related to fair energy transfer for the implementation of appropriate energy security measures, taking into account the expansion of new energy sources, such as renewable energies.
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