Rio Tinto holds tender with legacy inventory from Argyle and Diavik mines

Rio Tinto (ASX: RIO) on Tuesday said its second Beyond Rare Tender: The Art Series 02 delivered a strong result, which the miner attributed to the rarity of the collection, and to the appeal for scarce natural-coloured diamonds.

Titled Colour Awakened, the collection comprises 76 diamonds in 48 lots, including legacy inventory of pink, red and violet diamonds from the Argyle mine, together with white and yellow diamonds from Rio’s Diavik nine in Canada’s Northwest Territories.

For the first time, the collection also featured seven Old Masters, notable historic diamonds from the Argyle mine.

Bids came in from 12 regions across Australia, Europe, Japan, Hong Kong, the Middle East, Singapore and North America, Rio said. 

“The continued strong global interest in highly collectible natural-coloured diamonds and the resulting value creation, reflects their stature as works of art to be treasured for future generations,” Rio Tinto Minerals chief executive Sinead Kaufman said in the statement.

Lot 40 comprising a 4.04 carat pear shaped pure white diamond from the Diavik mine, together with two rare pear shaped violet diamonds from the Argyle mine, is entrusted to Danish luxury jeweller Hartmanns, who will collaborate with Argyle Pink Diamonds partner Glajz to craft an heirloom piece of jewellery.

In the North American market, US jeweller and coloured diamond specialist J FINE was one of the successful bidders.

Almost the entire world’s supply of rare pink and red diamonds come from Rio Tinto’s Argyle diamond mine, which ceased production in November 2020.

With 37 years of Argyle production in global markets, Rio Tinto continues to manage the Argyle Pink Diamonds brand through sales of remaining inventory, secondary market platforms, certification processes, and creative collaborations with Argyle Pink Diamonds Icon partners and other international jewellers.