Ann: Annual Report to shareholders, page-2

Maybe our coloured diamonds will become the new pink and red.

Rio Tinto buys back famed Argyle pink and red diamonds for latest tender due to dwindling stockpile Adrian Rauso The West Australian Tue, 15 October 2024 6:07PMAdrian Rauso Michelle Sherring, Manager Sales and Business Development at Rio Tinto Diamonds. Credit: Ross Swanborough /The West Australian A select few with deep pockets are rolling into Perth to snap up the latest collection of Argyle diamonds, as unsold inventory of the ultra-rare gems whittles down to a “teaspoon”.A top secret location in the CBD this week will host prospective buyers from Australia and overseas vying for 76 polished pink, red, and other coloured diamonds — predominantly unearthed at Rio Tinto’s shuttered Argyle mine in the east Kimberley region. Argyle operated for 37 years up until 2020, and about 95 per cent of the world’s circulation of pink and red diamonds can be traced back to the mine. Each carat of an Argyle pink or red can easily fetch a multi-million-dollar sum. Earlier this year a 1.56ct Argyle red sold for $US4.3 million ($6.4m) in Geneva, equating to $US2.7m a carat. One of the pinks in the latest collection weighs 2.63ct.But not all of the famed gems sold are destined for an extravagant jewellery piece, with many opting to keep their purchase locked away in a vault as an investment. “We have seen double digit price growth year on year for the past 20 years . . . and we seeing demand continue unabated for these stones,” Rio Tinto diamond sales and business development manager Michelle Sherring told The West Australian. “The constrained supply means the value of pink diamonds has eclipsed any kind of comparable equity indices, like the Dow Jones and Hang Seng et cetera, over the years. ”Since mining ceased at Argyle Rio has touted each of its annual tenders for the diamonds as being one of the last. “We now have a mere teaspoon (of unsold Argyle pinks and reds) remaining within our own inventory,” Ms Sherring said. Stockpiles are now so low that for the first time ever the collection includes diamonds Rio has bought back from customers.