Rio Tinto Could Pull Out of Star-Orion South Mine, Canada
July 13, 22
(IDEX Online) - The Star-Orion South diamond mine, in Canada, will be put on care and maintenance at the end of this year, following disagreements between joint venture partners Rio Tinto Exploration Canada Inc. and Star Diamond Corp.
Rio Tinto said in a statement that it was reviewing its options and warned it could pull out of the project completely. Star Diamond said it was disappointed.
Both sides became tangled in a legal row over terms at Star-Orion South (pictured). Star Diamond accused Rio Tinto of "bad faith predatory practices", gross overspending on exploration costs and failing to share results of drill sampling.
In a separate move it also blamed Rio Tinto for damage to diamonds from the Project Falcon site, at Fort de la Corne, Saskatchewan.
The two companies appeared to have settled their differences last December, when they renegotiated the split from 60/40 in Rio Tinto's favor, to 75/25.
Rio Tinto said that "subject to fulfilling its existing obligations, it does not intend to commit additional capital to the Project during 2022 beyond what is necessary for care and maintenance."
It also said it "intends to conduct a near-term review of its alternatives regarding the Project, including its potential exit".
In 2018, an independent preliminary economic assessment on the Star and Orion South kimberlites estimated that 66 million carats of diamonds could be recovered in a surface mine over 38 years.