Mining major Rio Tinto announced its production results for the three months ending September 2015. At its Argyle mine, the ramp-up of production from the underground mine remained the key operational focus. As a result, 3,514000 carats were produced in the third quarter this year, up 43 percent from Q3 of 2014. The said production was 10,105,000 carats year-to-date, up 37 percent compared with the corresponding periods of 2014.

At Diavik, third quarter diamond production stood at 761,000 carats as it fell 24 percent on y-o-y basis. In year-to-date period, production was 2,945,000 carats, dipping 14 percent in comparison to the same nine months of last year. The lowered performance at Diavik is attributed to lower processing volumes and lower recovered grades from the A418 and A154N pipes.

The company’s overall pre-tax and pre-divestment expenditure on exploration and evaluation in the first nine months of 2015 was $392 million (of which $149 million was spent in the third quarter), compared with $566 million in the same period of 2014. Approximately 21 percent of the expense was shared for diamonds and minerals.

Rio Tinto Chief Executive Sam Walsh said “We continue to deliver efficient production, rigorous cost control and sound allocation of capital.”