De Beers expands exploration in Angola, increases investments in SA, Botswana

De Beers Group, the diamond producer majority owned by South African miner Anglo American, has signed agreements with the Angolan government to expand exploration projects in the southern African country. According to the agreement signed on Tuesday with Diamantino Pedro Azevedo - Angola's Minister of Mineral Resources, Petroleum and Gas - at the Mining Indaba in Cape Town, De Beers will have prospecting rights across the country.

"This agreement gives us the rights to look for diamonds across Angola," said Al Cook, chief executive officer of the diamond producer founded in South Africa in 1869. The prospecting will be conducted in partnership with Endiama, the national diamond company of Angola. The prospecting rights add to those awarded to the world's second largest producer of diamonds in Angola in 2022, which marked De Beers' return to the south African country.