PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Mining major Rio Tinto this week tendered a collection of 64 rare pink and red diamonds from its iconic Argyle mine, in Western Australia.
The 2019 collection, the thirty-fifth tender since the mine began production, saw double digit growth in the number of bids, with successful bidders coming from nine countries, the miner said.
“The 2019 Argyle pink diamonds tender was highly sought after with a set of results that underscores the ongoing value appreciation of these gems in the history of rare coloured diamonds,” said VP for sales and marketing of Rio’s copper & diamonds division, Alan Chirgwin.
The 2019 Argyle pink diamonds tender collection was accompanied for the first time by an exclusive selection of smaller Argyle pink and red diamonds. Known as The Argyle Pink Everlasting Collection and comprising 64 lots of carefully curated diamonds, weighing in total 211 ct, it was sold in its entirety to Hong Kong fancy coloured diamond specialist, Kunming Diamonds.
The Argyle Enigm, the most valuable diamond in the collection, was won by Australia-based Argyle Pink Diamonds partner Blue Star & Kiven Diamonds, which also won the Argyle Verity.
Almost the entire world supply of rare pink, red and violet diamonds come from Rio Tinto’s Argyle diamond mine which will closes at the end of 2020. Over the past 19 years the value of Argyle pink diamonds sold at Tender has appreciated more than 500%, outperforming all major equity markets.