OREANDA-NEWS. On April 29, 2008 a general meeting of founding shareholders of Catoca Ltd, a joint diamond mining venture in Angola, was held in St. Petersburg, reported the press-centre of ALROSA.

The meeting was attended by President of ALROSA Sergey Vybornov, representative of one of Catoca’s founding shareholders.

The other shareholders: Angola’s National Diamond Mining Company "ENDIAMA" represented by its President Manuel Arnaldo de Sousa Calado and Lev Leviev were also present.

The meeting took place in the Assembly Hall of the St. Petersburg State Mining Institute (Technical University). V.S. Litvinenko, University Rector, opened the meeting with a welcoming address to its participants.

The shareholders heard the information on the results of Catoca Ltd. in 2007, studied and approved its financials and annual report for 2007.

It was announced that diamond sales revenues in 2007 amounted to USD 451,4 million, i.e. USD 32.4 above the target. The additional revenue was received due to bigger production volumes and higher prices of rough diamonds on the international market.

The company announces a profit of USD 111,2 million, 10,3 million above the 2007 target.
Having considered proposals on the dividend distribution for the reported period, the shareholders resolved that henceforth dividends were to be paid on a monthly basis, beginning from the month following the general meeting where the dividends were approved for distribution.

The meeting also considered future plans of Catoca Ltd.

For Your Reference:
Catoca Ltd. (Sociedade Mineira de Catoca, Lda) was established in Angola in 1992 as a joint venture between Yakutalmaz Association (Russia), National Diamond Mining Company "ENDIAMA" (Angola), Odebrecht Mining Services Inc. (Brazil) and Daumonty Financing Co. for the purpose of mining and marketing of the diamond production from the Catoca kimberlite pipe.

ALROSA has 32,8 % interest in Catoca Ltd.

The Catoca kimberlite pipe is one of the world’s largest diamond deposits. Its reserves are estimated at 271 million tons of diamondiferous ore which in the next 40 years can yield approximately 189 million carats valued at USD 11 billion.

In 2006 the revenues from diamond sales of Catoca Ltd. amounted to USD 425,8 million.
Development prospects are promising, with a projected annual revenue of over USD 400-450 million.