Luanda - The launch of the first stone for the construction of a gold refinery will take place, in the last week of June, in the Viana Industrial Hub, in Luanda, ANGOP learned.
According to a publication of the Ministry of Mineral Resources, Oil and Gas, to which ANGOP had access, the gold refinery in Luanda is the result of the government's focus on promoting the value chain of minerals in the country, from research and prospecting, through exploration, transformation and commercialisation.
The minister for Mineral Resources, Oil and Gas, Diamantino Azevedo, and the governor of Luanda, Ana Paula de Carvalho, are cited in the note, as figures of note for the act of launching construction of the refinery.
Construction of the refinery, which is expected to take 12 months, is funded by investment from Geoangol, a unit of Endiama which will own 83 percent of the shares.
The project has already started with the recruitment and selection of 24 of the 30 future workers, in terms of direct jobs.
Staff recruited in this phase will benefit from training outside the country, while in the construction phase of the refinery it is expected to employ around 80 more people.
In Angola 28 gold projects are known, of which 20 are in the prospecting phase, eight already have exploration titles and two have started production and commercialisation.
According to statistics to which ANGOP had access, in 2020, the result of the gold subsector production was 1 887 ounces, of the 5 441 foreseen, with 34.70 percent of execution.
In 2021, 1 137 ounces were extracted, of the 7 500 projected, representing 13.82 percent execution, according to data from the Office for Studies, Planning and Statistics of the Ministry of Mineral Resources, Oil and Gas.
Investments exceed USD 60 million
The gold subsector saw investment of US$62.9 million, of which US$48.6 million was spent on exploration and US$14.3 million on prospecting.
The investments were applied in 32 projects, 10 of which are in the exploration phase, spread over several provinces of the country.
The sector expects total investment of USD 278.68 million in exploration and USD 41.96 million in prospecting in the near future.
Projects in the exploration for production phase include Chipindo (Huila), Gandavira and Samboto (Huambo) and Buço-Zau (Cabinda).
Other projects ready to start production are Lombe Mining, Mongo Mongo, Lufo and Chiaca (Cabinda), Mpopo and Mapele (Huíla).
