Q3 Gives Rio Diamond Surge in 1st 9 Months of 2013

Rio Tinto posted a 12% jump on the year in rough diamond output to 4.16 million carats in the third quarter of this year. For the first nine months of the year, Rio Tinto’s diamond production surged 17% to 11.53 million carats.

Production was affected by two main factors, the firm said. The underground mine at the firm’s fully-owned Argyle mine in Western Australia, underwent full commissioning in April this year. Consequently, production soared 26% to 3.09 million carats in the third quarter while the level of ore processed jumped 20% to 2.09 million metric tons. Meanwhile, output at the Diavik mine in Canada’s NorthWest Territories, where Rio Tinto has a 60% share, fell 13% to just over 1.0 million carats.

For the January-September period, production at Argyle jumped 27% to 8.21 million carats, and at Diavik slipped 3% to 3.11 million carats during the nine months.

Production at the Murowa mine in Zimbabwe, in which the mining giant has a 78% holding, dropped 24% to 70,000 carats in the third quarter, but edged up 1% to 217,000 carats in the first three-quarters of the year. “In 2013, Rio Tinto’s share of production is expected to be 15.7 million carats of diamonds,” the firm said in a statement.

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