Rio Tinto, the multinational mining company, reported a 4% year-on-year decrease in diamond production during Q1 2023. According to the company, diamond production fell to 954,000 carats, compared to the same period last year. Additionally, the production also decreased by 28% compared to the preceding quarter of Q4 2022.
Rio Tinto attributed the decrease in production to temporary restrictions in accessing open pit material at the Diavik mine, where the company’s share of carats was 4% lower than Q1 2022.
To boost production, Rio Tinto announced a $40 million investment in the first phase of underground mining below the existing A21 open pit at Diavik in Canada. The company expects this move to result in an additional 1.4 million carats of rough diamonds. The underground mining is expected to start in the first quarter of 2026, and Diavik is also expected to end commercial production during the same period.