The Companhia de Diamantes de Angola (Diamang) was a company exploiting

diamond Diamond is a Allotropes of carbon, solid form of the element carbon with its atoms arranged in a crystal structure called diamond cubic. Diamond is tasteless, odourless, strong, brittle solid, colourless in pure form, a poor conductor of e ...

mines in

Angola Angola, officially the Republic of Angola, is a country on the west-Central Africa, central coast of Southern Africa. It is the second-largest Portuguese-speaking world, Portuguese-speaking (Lusophone) country in both total area and List of c ...

. Diamang was formed on 16 October 1917 by financial investors from Angola's then colonial master

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

, and also from Belgium, United States,

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...

and

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

. The company was formally dissolved on 17 February 1988.

History

On June 6, 1918, the mining rights of the ''Companhia de Pesquisa Mineira de Angola (PEMA)'', which was formed on 6 September 1912, were transferred to Endiama. PEMA got these mining rights on 31 March 1913. On 4 December 1920, the Portuguese High Commissioner for Angola signed a contract with Endiama, giving the company exclusive rights for diamond prospection and mining. On 28 February 1970, Diamang and De Beers Consolidated formed the joint venture Condiama for the commercialization of diamonds. After Angola gained independence, the major part of Endiama's capital was nationalized, by decrees 61/77 of 24 August 1977, and 255/79 of 11 December 1979. From 1978 to 1986, the British company ''MATS'' managed and serviced the operations of Diamang. Diamond mining in Angola and Diamang's operations were severely interrupted by the

Angolan civil war The Angolan Civil War () was a civil war in Angola, beginning in 1975 and continuing, with interludes, until 2002. The war began immediately after Angola became independent from Portugal in November 1975. It was a power struggle between two for ...

, where UNITA, after losing the direct support from the

Apartheid Apartheid ( , especially South African English: , ; , ) was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. It was characterised by an ...

regime, financed its operations by bartering uncut diamonds for weaponry, which was sanctioned by the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1173 and subsequent resolutions.

References

* * {{section link, De Beers Consolidated Mines, Blood diamonds and the Kimberley Process Diamond mining companies Mining companies of Angola Companies established in 1917 Companies disestablished in 1988

History

See also

References