Luanda: Angola’s diamond sales leaped 35 percent year-on-year in the first half of the year to $573 million from the 4.2 million carats sold.

Angolan daily newspaper Jornal de Angola, citing the General Tax Administration, was quoted by Macauhub as reporting that Angola earned $426 million in the first half of 2014 from 4.1 million carats sold.

The country’s overall output for 2014 was 8.6 million carats worth $1.274 billion. Meanwhile, Macauhub reports that three projects were currently underway in Angola to increase diamond production in the mid-term.

These included Tchiuzo, valued at just over $200 million with guaranteed annual production of 2.5 million carats, Luaxe estimated at $1 billion with annual production of about 10 million carats and Kimangue, which would offer greater knowledge about the existence of diamond resources in Angola for subsequent production.