Rio Tinto Diamond Production +6% in Q1 2016

(IDEX Online News) – Rio Tinto has released its results for the first quarter of the 2016 fiscal year, which showed that production increased 6 percent compared to the fourth quarter of 2015.

The company announced that it produced 4.522 million carats during the first quarter of 2016 compared to 4.115 million carats in the first quarter of the prior year and 4.266 million carats in the fourth quarter of 2015 – a 10-percent and 6-percent increase respectively.

Production from the 100-percent owned Argyle Mine in Western Australia, increased 0.7 percent over the fourth quarter of 2015, rising to 3.391 million carats compared to 3.368 million carats. On a year-over-year basis, first quarter production of this year saw a 5-percent increase compared to the same period in 2015. The company said that the increase was due to an increase in underground volumes.

Production also increased at the 60-percent owned Diavik Mine in the Northwest Territories, Canada. Fourth-quarter production reached 1.131 million carats compared to 899,000 carats in both the first and fourth quarter of 2015 – a 26-percent increase. Rio Tinto confirmed that total production in 2015 was 17.316 million carats.

The company expects to produce 21 million carats in 2016.

“These results demonstrate our commitment to operational excellence in 2016,” said Rio Tinto chief executive Sam Walsh.

“However, we continue to experience volatility in commodity prices across all markets. In the face of a testing external environment, our focus remains on delivering further cost and productivity improvements, disciplined capital management and maximising free cash flow, to ensure that Rio Tinto remains strong.”