Rio Tinto announced yesterday that its diamond production for the three-month period ended March 31, 2019 (Q1) dropped by 18% to 3.8 million carats (Q1 2018: 4.6 mn cts) due to a dip at both the Argyle mine in Australia and the Diavik mine in Canada. When compared to the earlier quarter, production was down 12%, the miner said.

Giving further details, Rio Tinto stated that at Argyle, carat production in the first quarter of 2019 at 2.79 mn cts was 22% lower than the same period in 2018 due to lower recovered grade.

At Diavik, carats recovered in the first quarter at 1.01 mn were 5% lower than the first quarter of 2018, as lower recovered grades were partially offset by higher ore processing.

The Company also said that diamond production guidance for 2019 was between 15 and 17 million carats. Production in 2018 stood at 18.4 mn cts.