Rio Tinto has launched its 2024 Beyond Rare Tender, featuring 48 lots of polished fancy-colored diamonds.
In total, the miner will offer a collection of 76 diamonds, called Colour Awakened, including its legacy inventory of pink and red stones from the shuttered Argyle mine in Australia as well as a number from its Diavik deposit in Canada, it said last week. Among the stones, which in total weigh 39.44 carats, are seven “Old Masters” — round brilliant cut, pink and red diamonds from the Argyle diamond mine, which closed in 2020. These diamonds range from 0.60 to 2.63 carats and were retrieved from private vaults, some dating back to 1987.
They include the following:
• Seven “Old Masters” including one fancy-red diamond.
• 32 single diamonds, consisting of pink and violet stones, including one fancy-purplish-red diamond.
• Nine curated diamond sets, two of which include a 2.47-carat fancy-intense-yellow diamond and 4.04-carat, D-color stone from Diavik.
“No other mining company in the world has custody of such a kaleidoscope of colored diamonds,” said Sinead Kaufman, CEO of Rio Tinto Minerals. “Four years on from the closure of the Argyle mine, our Beyond Rare Tender platform is a testimony to the enduring prestige of the Argyle Pink Diamonds brand, the quality of production from our Diavik mine, and the ongoing demand for highly collectible natural diamonds.”
The company will showcase the collection in London, Australia, Singapore, and Belgium, with bids closing on November 18, 2024.
Separately, Rio Tinto announced it had begun commercial production from the A21 underground portion of Diavik. The company also approved an additional $17 million for the second phase of the underground project, it noted.
“The A21 underground operation is positive news for our employees, partners, suppliers and local communities in the Northwest Territories, as it will enable operations to continue through to closure,” said Diavik’s chief operating officer, Matt Breen.
Image: Diamonds from the Beyond Rare Tender. (Rio Tinto)
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