'Beyond rare' Argyle?,,? blue diamonds sold in a record breaking global bid - Rio Tinto
(Kitco News) -Rio Tinto announced yesterdaythat its entire 2021 Once in a Blue Moon Tender collection of 41 lots ofcarefully curated Argyle blue and violet diamonds, has been won by a singlebidder, the Hong Kong fancy coloured diamond specialist, Kunming Diamonds.
Kunming Diamonds' historymaking global bid for the 24.88 carats of final "beyond rare" blue jewels fromthe East Kimberley region of Western Australia is a significant moment in thehistory of the Argyle mine and the coloured diamond industry, the company saidin a statement.
The Argyle mine sporadicallyproduced small blue and violet diamonds in a beautiful array of shades and withthe closure of Argyle it is extremely unlikely that there will ever be anothercollective offering of iconic gems in this colour spectrum from a single mine,Rio Tinto added.
Sinead Kaufman, ChiefExecutive of Rio Tinto Minerals commented, "The rarity and beauty of the Oncein a Blue Moon diamonds speaks volumes. They are highly coveted, the ultimatelimited edition and we congratulate Kunming Diamonds on their global bid."
Almost the entire world'ssupply of rare pink, red, blue and violet diamonds come from Rio Tinto's ArgyleDiamond Mine which ceased production on 3 November, 2020.
"With 37 years of Argyle pinkdiamond production in global markets Rio Tinto has made the decision tomaintain and manage the Argyle Pink DiamondsTM brand through secondary marketplatforms, certification processes and creative collaborations with our trustedpartners," the company said.
In addition to owning theArgyle Pink Diamonds?,,? brand Rio Tinto is the majority owner and operator of theDiavik diamond mine in the Northwest Territories of Canada and has signed anexploration joint venture agreement with Endiama, the national diamond miningcompany of Angola, to evaluate the Chiri kimberlite in the Lunda Sul Provinceof Angola.
By Vladimir BasovFor Kitco News
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