Rio Tinto successfully sold 76 polished colored diamonds from its Argyle and Diavik mines through its second Beyond Rare tender, attracting strong bids from global participants.
The collection, named Colour Awakened, featured 48 lots totaling 39.44 carats. It included pink, red, and violet diamonds from the now-closed Argyle mine in Australia, along with yellow and white diamonds from the Diavik deposit in Canada.
A highlight of the sale was the Old Masters collection, which showcased seven historic diamonds from Argyle.
The tender saw 12 successful bidders from diverse locations, including Australia, Europe, Japan, Hong Kong, the Middle East, Singapore, and North America.
Danish luxury jeweler Hartmanns secured a pear-shaped, 4.04-carat, pure white diamond and two pear-shaped violet diamonds.
Ulrik Hartmann, the owner, plans to collaborate with Argyle Pink Diamonds Icon partner Glajz to craft a piece of jewelry from these stones, Rio Tinto noted. Additionally, US-based jeweler and colored-diamond specialist J Fine also placed successful bids.
Sinead Kaufman, CEO of Rio Tinto’s minerals division, commented, “The continued strong global interest in highly collectible natural diamonds reflects their status as works of art to be cherished for future generations.”
In addition to its Diavik operations, Rio Tinto is actively exploring for diamonds in Canada and Africa. The company recently signed a joint-venture agreement with Angola’s state-owned diamond company Endiama to assess the Chiri kimberlite in the Lunda Sul Province.
