Rio Tinto sold 76 polished colored diamonds from its Argyle and Diavik mines through its second Beyond Rare tender, noting strong bidding from global participants.
The collection, called Colour Awakened, comprised 48 lots weighing a total of 39.44 carats, Rio Tinto said Tuesday. It included pink, red and violet diamonds from the company’s Argyle mine in Australia, which closed in November 2020, as well as yellow and white diamonds from the Diavik deposit in Canada.
Within the sale, the miner offered the Old Masters, which comprised seven historic diamonds from Argyle. The tender had 12 successful bidders from Australia, Europe, Japan, Hong Kong, the Middle East, Singapore and North America.
Danish luxury jeweler Hartmanns took home a pear-shaped, 4.04-carat, pure white diamond and two pear-shaped violet diamonds. Owner Ulrik Hartmann will collaborate with Argyle Pink Diamonds Icon partner Glajz to create a piece of jewelry from the stones, Rio Tinto noted. US jeweler and colored-diamond specialist J Fine also bid successfully.
“The continued strong global interest in highly collectible natural diamonds, and the resulting value creation, reflects their stature as works of art to be treasured for future generations,” said Sinead Kaufman, CEO of Rio Tinto’s mineral division.
Aside from the Diavik mine, Rio Tinto is currently actively exploring for diamonds in Canada, as well as in Africa, where it has signed a joint-venture agreement with Angola state diamond company Endiama to evaluate the Chiri kimberlite in the Lunda Sul Province.
Image: Three of the diamonds that sold at the tender. (Rio Tinto)
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