Rio Tinto’s diamond production dips 28% in Q4 of 2010

Argyle delivers lowered production
Rio Tinto’s diamond production dips 28% in Q4 of 2010

Rio Tinto’s diamond production in the fourth quarter of 2010 fell by 28 percent on y-o-y basis, to 3.199 million carats. The company believes this is affected by the processing of lower grade ore at its fully-owned Argyle mine open pit, where it is developing its underground mining operations. Production at Argyle in the said three months dropped 36 percent to 2.243 million carats during the quarter despite the 57 percent rise in ore processed.

The production from its 60 percent stake in Diavik mine in Canada rose by 1 percent to 926,000 carats and from its 78 percent stake in the Murowa mine in Zimbabwe rose 3 percent to 30,000 carats.

Rio Tinto’s annual production for the year 2010 stood at 13.843 million carats, dropping by a mere 1.3 percent. For the year round, its Argyle mine reached production of 9.804 million carats showing a 7 percent drop. Production from its stake in Diavik mine in Canada increased 17 percent to 3.9 million carats and from its Murowa mine increased 43 percent to 139,000 carats.


Follow DiamondWorld on Instagram: @diamondworldnet
Follow DiamondWorld on Twitter: @diamondworldnet
Follow DiamondWorld on Facebook: @diamondworldnet

logo
Diamond World
www.diamondworld.net