Moscow, May 23, 2017 – PJSC ALROSA, the world leader in diamond mining, will participate in the development of a new diamond deposit in Angola.

As part of a visit of the Russian official delegation headed by the Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation Yury Trutnev to Angola, ALROSA President Sergey Ivanov. President of ALROSA Sergey Ivanov and President of national diamond company Endiama Antonio Carlos Sumbula signed constituent documents on the establishment of Luaxe international enterprise on May 23, 2017, in Luanda (Republic of Angola).

They signed memorandum of understanding between Endiama and ALROSA, Luaxe international investment contract and notarial record of establishment of Luaxe enterprise.

Russian Deputy Prime Minister outlined that cooperation in diamond mining, in particular between ALROSA and Endiama, is the key component of economic cooperation between Russia and Angola. He also noted that development of new projects, active exploration and search for new deposits have positive impact on the economic advancement of Angola and partnership of two countries.

In 2013, a kimberlite pipe named Luele was found in the Luaxe concession area in the scope of exploration operations carried out by ALROSA in cooperation with Angolan experts. “Over the past few years, ALROSA, acting with the support of the Russian Government, has been engaged in negotiations with Angolan top management and investors. Consent to sign a mining investment agreement for exploration and assessment of the deposit, as well as for signing a contract between founders of a company for the development of Luele deposit was obtained as a result of negotiations,” said Yury Trutnev.

ALROSA will be involved in the project through Catoca (where it owns 32.8%), which will obtain a 50.5% share in the new structure. ALROSA is also going to submit to the Company Supervisory Board a proposal to purchase directly another 8% in Luaxe. ALROSA also plans to increase its share in Catoca Ltd. Mining Co.

Considering the size of the ore body and preliminary exploration data, the development of Luele will be of great economic interest for project participants. “Luele pipe is the largest of all those discovered worldwide over the past 60 years since the discovery of deposits in Yakutia. As a specialized investor in Luaxe project, ALROSA, who has relevant professional competence, will assume obligations for the new company’s project solutions and technical policy. The total commercial value of the deposit is assessed as over USD 35 billion,” noted Sergey Ivanov.