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Production at Rio Tinto’s Diavik mine in Canada grew in the first quarter as the miner retrieved its final diamonds from the site, which has reached its end of life.
Output gained 11% year on year to 1 million carats for the three months that ended March 31, Rio Tinto said Tuesday. However, that figure was 6% lower than the previous quarter, when the company retrieved ore from the new underground portion of its A21 deposit.
In the fourth quarter of 2025, Rio Tinto ramped up production to allow it to unearth as much rough as possible before the mine’s closure, which took place last month. The miner processed 442,000 tonnes of ore in the first quarter, compared with 394,000 tonnes during the same period a year earlier.
Diavik was Rio Tinto’s only remaining diamond asset. It shut the Argyle mine in Australia in 2020, and in 2023 sold its 75% interest in the Fort à la Corne diamond exploration project in Saskatchewan to joint-venture partner Star Diamond Corporation, as part of a strategy to sharpen its focus on metals and other minerals. The Australia-based miner continues to operate a diamond-exploration program in Angola.
Image: Rough diamonds from the Diavik mine. (Rio Tinto)
