THE improved conditions at the Argyle Mine in Australia, Murowa mine in Zimbabwe and the Diavik Mine in Canada’s Northwest Territories has led to increase in Rio Tinto’s rough diamond production. “it had produced some 28 million carats of rough diamonds in the first nine months of 2005, compared to just 15.3 million carats in the same period of 2004, and 7.3 million carats in the third quarter alone, a 10% increase, said Rio Tinto plc.$$Rio Tinto Diamonds, the corporation’s diamond division, is headquartered in Antwerp. It spent $168 million on prospecting and evaluation before taxes in the nine-month period, compared to $126 million last year.

The credit can be attributed to improved conditions at the Argyle Mine in Australia, which yielded 24 million carats from January through September, more than double the 11.6 million carats produced there in the first nine months of 2004. Third quarter production at Argyle totaled 6 million carats, up 13%.%%The Diavik Mine in Canada’s Northwest Territories, in which Rio Tinto has a 60 % stake, production totaled 3.9 million carats in the first three quarters of 2005, a 6% increase, but fell 4 % to 1.3 million carats in the third quarter due to lower grade ore. The company also produced 151,000 carats from the Murowa mine in Zimbabwe in the first nine months of 2005. The mine only came online in the third quarter of 2004.