Releasing its Q2 production results for 2023, mining major Rio Tinto indicates a 16% decline in diamond production year on year. Totaling 0.97 mn carats, Rio Tinto's Q2 diamond output is 2% higher than the first quarter output of 2023.
Rio Tinto attributes the lower production at Diavik to the completion of an underground pipe in the area of the open pit. The decline in diamond production at its fully-owned Diavik mine is the primary reason for the overall decrease.
The company’s H1 2023 diamond output slipped 10% to 1.92 mn carats compared with 2.14 mn carats produced in H1 2022. Operational changes and developments at the Diavik mine affected Rio Tinto’s reduction in share of carats, compared to the second quarter of 2022.
Aruna Gaitonde, Editor in Chief of the Asian Bureau, Rough & Polished
