Angola has suspended the issuing of new mining licences until its National Geological Plan is implemented, the Angolan Minister of Geology and Mining, Francisco Queiroz, announced on Friday.

Mr Queiroz said – as quoted by Angolan news agency Angop – that the move would allow authorities to identify those existing licences that are actually being used. He estimated most of the 2,000 issued over the years were not being used and that was causing “great concern”.

The Minister explained that licences for research and exploration of mineral resources would be rated in two groups: one for valid licences that have not yet started operating; and another for licences considered illegal and that would be subject to cancellation.

Angola’s National Geological Plan is expected to create the first comprehensive list of the nation’s geological and mineral resources, Angola’s National Director of Geology and Mines, André Buta Neto, explained last month.

As part of that Plan, China International Trust and Investments Corporation (CITIC), a Chinese state-owned investment company, will carry out an aerial geological survey of the natural resources of Angola’s Kwanza Sul province.