Resource Company BHP Billiton said on Tuesday it foresees great potential for a large discovery of diamonds in Angola as well as forming a partnership with the government.

We now have found 50 kimberlite pipes - rocks that hold diamonds - at one of our projects there, Alto Cuilo. Some of those pipes are significantly larger than what you would find in Canada,' Maxwell said on the sidelines of the Diggers and Dealers mining conference in Australia, Reuters reported.

In September last year, BHP Billiton and Petra Diamonds entered a joint venture over the Alto Cuilo diamond project in north eastern Angola. Under the agreement, BHP Billiton can invest up to $60-million in the project to acquire shares of up to 75 percent of the joint venture.

We have rivers and streams draining some of these deposits where we have recovered very good quality diamonds, Maxwell said.

So far, the company had no idea of the grade, or purity, of the diamonds... this may turn out to be nothing or it may turn out to be something interesting,' Maxwell said.

BHP produces copper, energy coal, nickel metal, uranium and aluminum and has begun expressing interest in diamonds. It is the world's largest diversified resources company with operations in 25 countries worldwide.

Australia Canada Diamonds Angola