Rio Tinto has published its operating results for the second quarter of 2025 and reported the increase in production across all of its major mined minerals.
Diamond production at the Diavik deposit in Canada was up 76% to 1.2 million carats year-on-year and up 31% from 942,000 carats in the first quarter of 2025. In the second quarter of 2024, the company suspended production at Diavik following a fatal plane crash involving some of the mine’s workers.
Meanwhile, in the first half of the current year, diamond production grew 51% to 2.2 million carats compared to the same period of last year.
During the same period, Rio Tinto’s mined gold output was up 18% to 191,600 ounces year-on-year, but the refined gold output was down 12% to 66,000 ounces.
Rio Tinto remains focused on its copper and iron ore divisions, ramping up production at its Oyu Tolgoi copper project, delivering strong results at the Pilbara iron ore mine and accelerating the first shipment from the Simandou high-grade iron ore project.
“We delivered excellent operational performance from our mine operations with record production from our bauxite business and from Oyu Tolgoi as it ramps up to become the world’s fourth largest copper mine before the end of the decade,” said Rio Tinto CEO Jakob Stausholm.
The bulk of the company’s exploration expenditure during the second quarter was focused on copper in Angola, Australia, Chile, Colombia, Peru and Serbia, lithium in Australia, Canada, Chile and Rwanda, and diamonds in Angola.
Theodor Lisovoy, Managing Editor, Rough&Polished
