(IDEX Online) - Rio Tinto has lowered the 2023 production forecast for its Diavik diamond mine, on the edge of Arctic Circle, in Canada.
It now expects to produce 3.0m to 3.8m carats, compared with a 2022 forecast of 4.5m to 5.0m carats.
Actual production for last year was on target, at 4.7m carats.
Rio Tinto, the world's second-largest metals and mining corporation, gave no explanation for the lower forecast in its fourth quarter production results, released today.
It has owned 100 per cent of the mine since November 2021, ending along legal battle with Dominion Diamond Mines over the mine's operating costs and production targets.
Dominion went into administration in April 2020 and Rio Tinto bought its 40 per cent holding.
Diavik (pictured) opened in 2003 and produced 6.2 million carats of rough diamonds in 2020. It is scheduled to close in 2025.