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Rio Tinto’s 4Q Production +50% as Argyle Output Soars
Jan 19, 2016 9:01 AM
By Rapaport News
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RAPAPORT... Rio Tinto reported diamond
production surged 50 percent year on year to 4.3 million carats in the fourth
quarter that ended December 31 as output from the Argyle mine in Australia almost doubled.
The Argyle pit
in the remote East Kimberley region of Western Australia produced 3.4 million carats in the three months, an 86-percent jump from a year
ago, according to a statement January 19. Production at the miner’s Diavik mine
in Canada slipped 3 percent to 899,000 carats.
The
mining giant owns the Argyle mine outright and holds a 60-percent share in
Diavik in a joint venture with Dominion Diamond Corporation.
Rio Tinto’s full-year production for 2015 grew 25 percent to 17.4 million
carats, below its guidance of 18 million carats issued on October 16. Production in the fourth
quarter was 4 percent lower than in the previous three-month period because of
process-plant pauses to manage inventory levels. The annual output from Argyle,
however, still jumped 47 percent to 13.5 million carats in 2015.
Full-year output from Diavik fell 11 percent to 3.8 million
carats because of process-plant pauses in the fourth quarter and the absence of
stockpiled ore that had been processed in the first half of 2014. The miner
recovered 3 percent fewer carats in the final quarter compared with the same
period the previous year because of lower processing volumes largely offset by
higher recovered grades.
The full-year company-wide
figure includes 77,000 carats produced from the Murowa Diamonds mine up until
June 2015, when Rio Tinto sold its 78-percent stake in the Zimbabwe mine.
Total diamond production in 2016 is forecast at 21 million carats, which would be a 21-percent increase on 2015.
The
results come after the miner appointed Simon Trott to replace
the departing Jean-Marc Lieberherr as managing director
of Rio Tinto’s diamonds business. Trott will keep his current responsibilities
as head of Rio Tinto’s salt and uranium businesses.
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Tags:
Argyle, Diavik, Dominion Diamond Corporation, mining, Rapaport News, Rio Tinto
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