Oman takes 41% stake in Angolan diamond miner

• Oman buys Russian share
• Deal complies with sanctions
• Biden visiting Angola this week

Oman’s Maaden International Investment has acquired a 41 percent share in Angolan diamond miner Catoca from Russia’s Alrosa.

Diamantino Azevedo, Angola’s minister of mineral resources, oil and gas, announced the decision, saying the deal is in order to comply with sanctions imposed by the US, the European Union and allies, following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022. 

“From now on, we have a new partner and this partner is the one that will exercise the rights that until now belonged to Alrosa,” Azevedo told national media.

“Alrosa, a partner of Endiama in the Catoca mining company, will cease to be a partner of this company and, consequently, also a partner of the Luele mining company,” he said.

Angola had been under pressure to end its long-standing partnership with Russian state-controlled Alrosa, which is the world’s largest producer of rough diamonds by volume. 

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The minister said having Alrosa as a shareholder affected “Angola’s credibility in the international diamond market”.

The move came ahead of Joe Biden’s visit to Angola this week, where investment in the Lobito corridor, a railway project that will transport critical minerals from central Africa’s copper belt to an Atlantic port in Angola, will be the main topic of discussion. 

Maaden International Investment is made up of a consortium of investors from the sultanate, led by the state-owned Mercury Investments International.

In January, it acquired a 23.9 percent stake in Anglo-Russian gold and silver producer Polymetal International, which is among the world’s top 10 gold miners, and a top-five silver producer, with assets across Russia and Kazakhstan.