Editor’s Note
Rio Tinto has announced strong results from its final Beyond Rare tender, featuring polished fancy color diamonds, though specific figures were not disclosed.
(IDEX Online) – Rio Tinto has reported “strong results” from its third and final Beyond Rare tender, though it declined to specify the exact figures.
The tender featured polished fancy color diamonds from the famed Argyle mine in Australia, which closed in November 2020, and white diamonds from the Diavik mine in Canada. The Diavik mine is Rio Tinto’s last remaining diamond operation and is scheduled to close next year.
The sale, titled “Into the Light,” comprised 52 lots with a total weight of 45.44 carats. The lots included one fancy red diamond, 12 fancy violet diamonds, and 76 fancy pink, purple-pink, and purplish pink diamonds from Argyle. Also featured were two flawless D-color white diamonds from Diavik: a 5.11-carat emerald-cut and a 3.02-carat pear-shape, both originating from the same piece of rough.
Lot 1, a set of two fancy vivid purplish pink pear shapes weighing 0.25 carats each, along with the 5.11-carat white diamond, was purchased by Singapore-based Glajz THG in collaboration with Danish jeweler Hartmann’s.
Since Argyle opened in 1985, Rio Tinto has sold approximately 2,500 carats of rare pink, red, and blue polished diamonds, representing less than 0.0003 percent of the mine’s total output.
*Image courtesy of Rio Tinto.*