Rio Tinto Will Shutter Argyle Mine Next Year
13 July 2019 - 1:03AM
Dow Jones News
By Oliver Griffin
Rio Tinto PLC (RIO.LN) will shutter its Argyle diamond mine in
2020 when economically viable diamond resources will be exhausted,
the company confirmed Friday.
The Anglo-Australian miner, the world's top exporter of iron ore
alongside Vale SA (VALE), said following the last production at the
mine, which is located in Australia, that it anticipates it will
take five years to decommission and dismantle the mine and
undertake rehabilitation. This will be followed by a further period
of time for monitoring, the company said.
Rio Tinto first said in March 2018 that the mine had reserves to
produce diamonds until 2020.
The Argyle mine has produced roughly 865 million carats of rough
diamonds since production began in 1983. The mine became famous for
its production of pink diamonds, which account for just over 1
million rough carats--or 0.13%--of production.
Rio Tinto has unveiled its most recent collection of pink
diamonds at the mine, which includes three fancy red diamonds and
weighs a total of 56.28 carats. The tender is being showcased in
Perth, Australia, Hong Kong and New York before bids close in
October.
Since production at Argyle began, less than 1,700 polished
carats have been sold in the annual Argyle pink diamonds tender. If
you were to combine all of the diamonds included in the annual pink
diamond tenders, "you would barely be able to fill two champagne
flutes" the company said.
Write to Oliver Griffin at oliver.griffin@dowjones.com;
@OliGGriffin
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
July 12, 2019 10:48 ET (14:48 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2019 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
Rio Tinto (LSE:RIO)
Historical Stock Chart
From Apr 2024 to May 2024
Rio Tinto (LSE:RIO)
Historical Stock Chart
From May 2023 to May 2024