Rio Tinto | Minerals and Metals for the world

"The end product of our approach will allow Diavik to become a lean company using statistically based thinking to make better decisions. We see our continuous improvement strategy as one which will generate a high level of production and predictable top quality products for our customers.

"We've also put significant resources into our exploration programme. Right now we have four economic pipes. But there are many other targets on the claim block and we are in various stages of investigating their potential."

Diavik's first ore navigated the inner workings of the process plant in November 2002 and official production commenced in January 2003. Through the following nine months, 2.7 million carats were recovered and the mine was on track to achieve its first year goal of 3.7 million carats.

When the ramp up is completed, annual production is expected to peak at over six million carats. On average the plant is processing about 5,200 tonnes per day. Based on plant availability, annual ore processing is estimated at 1.5 million tonnes. Each day of processing generates about 20,000 carats (four kilograms) of diamonds.

So far, the largest gem quality rough diamond recovered weighs 151 carats. This stone, with two other large stones, was offered for sale through a special tender. Of the finely shaped octahedrons, the largest are around ten carats. Much of Diavik's production is forecast to be white (clear) stones of one carat or less in size, and will be highly sought after in the global marketplace. Overall, the value of the Diavik's ore is among the world's richest.



"The end product of our approach will allow Diavik to become a lean company using statistically based thinking to make better decisions. We see our continuous improvement strategy as one which will generate a high level of production and predictable top quality products for our customers. "We've also put significant resources into our exploration programme. Right now we have four economic pipes. But there are many other targets on the claim block and we are in various stages of investigating their potential." Diavik's first ore navigated the inner workings of the process plant in November 2002 and official production commenced in January 2003. Through the following nine months, 2.7 million carats were recovered and the mine was on track to achieve its first year goal of 3.7 million carats. When the ramp up is completed, annual production is expected to peak at over six million carats. On average the plant is processing about 5,200 tonnes per day. Based on plant availability, annual ore processing is estimated at 1.5 million tonnes. Each day of processing generates about 20,000 carats (four kilograms) of diamonds. So far, the largest gem quality rough diamond recovered weighs 151 carats. This stone, with two other large stones, was offered for sale through a special tender. Of the finely shaped octahedrons, the largest are around ten carats. Much of Diavik's production is forecast to be white (clear) stones of one carat or less in size, and will be highly sought after in the global marketplace. Overall, the value of the Diavik's ore is among the world's richest.
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Review is published by Rio Tinto, 6 St James' Square, London SW1Y 4LD, England Telephone +44 (0)20 7930 2399 Editor: Cherry DeGeer