Sales of diamonds from Angola reached US$1.2 billion in the first 11 months of 2014, the country’s Geology and Mining Minister, Francisco Queirós, said on Monday.

Angola was the fourth biggest diamond producing country by value in 2012, with sales of more than US$1 billion, according to Bloomberg.

Mr Queirós forecast that diamond sales in 2014 would be close to US$1.3 billion, Angola’s official goal for the full year. But he added that the country would only achieve 85 percent of the production volume target originally set for 2014.

The Minister’s comments were made during an official ceremony at the country’s capital Luanda.