Rio Tinto’s diamond sales rise 52% in 2010

Rio Tinto’s financial results for the year 2010, inform a 52 percent increase in the value of its diamond sales (y-o-y), which amounted to $682 million. This unit of the company churned a net earning of $70 million from a loss of $68 million in 2009, which Rio Tinto attributes to an increased demand from emerging stronger markets like China and India and a healthy improvement in rough diamond prices. At the same time, the company is cautious that the improvement can be influenced by consumer demand in the U.S., which still is a significant consumption market.

The company’s overall production across all its mining assets has dipped by 1 percent to 13.843 million carats in 2010, following a lower grade ore at then open pit of the Argyle mine's (which it owns fully) which is facing underground mining operations. The company’s assets include: Argyle mine (full ownership), Diavik mine (60 percent stake), Murowa mine (77.8 percent share), and the value of its operating diamond assets was $1.19 billion at year end 2010.