Ndalatando - The Minister of Mineral Resources, Oil and Gas, Diamantino de Azevedo, warned, on Tuesday, the provincial governments to refrain from issuing opinions on geological exploration, as it represents an exclusive responsibility of the responsible Ministry and agencies sector regulators.
The measure arises from the fact that the granting of the right to geological exploration involves several technical assumptions, risks and high costs that require the intervention of specialized bodies, with international reference and accredited by the ministry.
Diamantino de Azevedo made this warning at the end of the meeting with the Government of the Province of Cuanza-Norte, to analyze the local geological potential.
He said that prospecting activity is marked by high risks, given that, in some cases, the funds invested end up lost because many prospects result in failure, especially in cases of drilling dry wells in hydrocarbon exploration projects.
In another sense, it ensured the reinforcement of public policies that will require mining operators to increase investments in social impact actions in the locations where they carry out activities.
In turn, the governor of Cuanza-Norte, João Diogo Gaspar, characterized the province as having great mineral potential at the level of the ten municipalities, with emphasis on gold, diamonds, manganese, marble, quartz, mica, mineral water, among others.
Diogo Gaspar reaffirmed the Provincial Government's commitment to cooperating with the Ministry of Guardianship in order to create strategies for the exploration of mineral resources existing in the province, by attracting private investment.
According to the governor, the expectation is that private investment will boost the province's socio-economic development, with a direct impact on the lives of the local population.
The meeting between the Ministry of Industry, Mineral Resources, Oil and Gas and the Government of Cuanza-Norte analyzed the geological potential of the province, the status of licenses already granted, access to rights to explore natural resources, inspection, research and combating illegal exploitation of resources.
The event aimed to analyze and promote the resources available in the province to better stratify them and attract investors to the geological and mining sector.
Cuanza-Norte is a province located in the extreme west of Angola and 190 kilometers from Luanda (capital of the country), which has the city of Ndalatando as its capital, comprising ten municipalities and a territorial extension of 20,252 square kilometers with great mining potential. and geological yet to be explored. LJ/IMA/YD/DOJ
