Rio Tinto’s 78 percent-owned Murowa Diamonds boosted its production by 47 percent to 66,000 carats in the first quarter of 2012 compared to 45,000 carats a year ago.
The diversified miner said in an update that total diamonds recovered at the Zimbabwean mine in 2011 amounted to 285,000 carats.
RioZim, an independent Zimbabwean owned and listed company owned 22 percent of the mine.
Burden by a $29 million debt, RioZim recently received shareholder approval to raise over $56.6 million.
Meanwhile, Rio Tinto said that the total diamond production from its entire operations for the three months went up 41 percent year-on-year to 3.5 million carats on 2.4 million carats in 2011.
Of this figure, Argyle mine contributed 2.5 million carats while Diavik mined 963,000 carats due to increased underground operations and improved grades.
The company recently started construction of the Argyle underground mine which is expected to be complete by the end of 2013.
It also said last month that it had begun a strategic review of its diamond business that would include exploring a range of options for potential divestment.
Mathew Nyaungwa, Editor in Chief of the African Bureau, Rough&Polished
