Diamond production at Rio Tinto’s Diavik deposit in Canada surged in the second quarter as operations returned to normal following a temporary pause a year earlier.
Output from the mine rose 76% to 1.2 million carats for the three months that ended June 30, Rio Tinto said Wednesday. The growth comes after the miner halted all business activity in the equivalent period during 2024 to allow employees to grieve for colleagues killed when a small plane carrying workers to Diavik crashed.
The total was also 31% higher than the 942,000 carats Rio Tinto recovered in the first quarter. Output for the first half grew 51% year on year to 2.2 million carats from the processing of 905,000 tonnes of ore. That compares with 705,000 tonnes in the first six months of 2024.
Diavik is Rio Tinto’s only diamond asset, following the closure of its Argyle mine in Australia in 2020 and the sale of its interest in the Fort à la Corne diamond exploration project to joint-venture partner Star Diamond last year. Diavik was originally due to be completed in 2025. Rio Tinto invested $40 million to extend the project’s life into 2026, adding more than 2 million carats of rough production. The miner is currently exploring for diamonds in Angola.
The company has not provided full-year production guidance for Diavik. In 2024, output came to 2.8 million carats, 17% lower than the previous year.
Image: An aerial view of the Diavik mine. (Rio Tinto)