Rio Tinto to invest 803 milion US dollars to ramp up Argyle underground

摘要

RIO Tinto is to invest 803 million US dollars into the underground block-cave project at its Argyle diamond mine in Western Australia. The project was "slowed in 2009 due to the global financial crisis", according to Harry Kenyon-Slaney, chief executive of the company's diamonds unit. The underground mine is expected to be fully operational in 2013, and will extend the life of Argyle to least 2019. Construction activity will ramp up in the first half of 2011, with targeted production rates of 9Mt/y within two years.