Rio Tinto has launched its second Beyond Rare diamond tender, showcasing 48 pieces from its diamonds business.
The collection is called ‘Colour Awakened’ and features seven ‘old masters’, which are historic pink and red diamonds from the Argyle diamond mine in Western Australia that operated from 1983 to 2020.
The Old Masters range from 0.60 carats to 2.63 carats in size and has been carefully retrieved from private vaults and handpicked for inclusion in the Beyond Rare tender.
The tender was launched in London, UK and also featured 32 legacy pink, red and violet diamonds from Argyle, as well nine sets of white and yellow diamonds from the Diavik diamond mine in Canada.
“No other mining company in the world has custody of such a kaleidoscope of coloured diamonds,” Rio Tinto Minerals chief executive officer Sinead Kaufman said.
“Four years on from the closure of the Argyle mine, our Beyond Rare tender platform is a testimony to the enduring prestige of the Argyle pink diamonds brand, the quality of production from our Diavik mine, and the ongoing demand for highly collectible natural diamonds.”
A total of 76 diamonds have been included in the second offering of Rio’s art series (Art Series 02), with the collection weighing 39.44 carats.
The 48 diamond pieces highlighted in London will also showcase in Australia, Singapore and Belgium, with bids closing on November 18.
“Each diamond in the Art Series 02 is a beautiful story of esteemed provenance, careful custody and transformation into rare works of art,” Rio Tinto diamonds business general manager of sales and marketing Patrick Coppens said.
“This curated collection of exceptional gems will be in strong demand by the world’s finest jewellers, collectors and diamond connoisseurs.”
Back in Australia, Rio has finalised its 11.65 per cent stake in Boyne Smelters (BSL).
First announced in June, the acquisition has resulted in Rio becoming a 71.04 per cent owner of the Boyne Island Gladstone smelter in Queensland.
The company’s BSL joint venture partners will be YKK Aluminium with 9.5 per cent, UACJ Australia with 9.29 per cent and Southern Cross Aluminium with 7.71 per cent.
“Rio Tinto looks forward to continuing to work with its BSL joint venture partners and other stakeholders on securing a competitive low-carbon future for its Gladstone operations,” Rio said.
Since it opened in 1982, a series of multimillion dollar investments increased Boyne’s capacity from 210,000 tonnes (t) of aluminium per year to today’s capacity of more than 500,000t.