Regal Group International: Rio Tinto’s Zimbabwe unit expects an increase in output for 2101.

Oct. 27, 2010 - PRLog -- Regal Group International has learned from the managing director of Rio Tinto’s Zimbabwe unit that an increase in diamond output is expected this year from the 124,000 carats produced in 2009. The MD said the firm expects production to be flat next year.

The Murowa Diamond Mine is located near Zvishavane in South Central Zimbabwe, and is 78% owned by Rio Tinto, with the remaining 22% being controlled by RioZim Limited, a wholly Zimbabwean-owned unit that spun off from Rio Tinto in 2004.

The Managing Director Neils Kristensen told Regal Group International sources that they expected an “increase over last year following a small plant upgrade to handle harder ore completed towards the end of 2009,”but did not give details on how much the company expects output to rise.

The mine’s output for the first six months of 2010 was up at 85,939 carats compared to 67,000 for the same period last year.

Kirtensen added that they expected “no significant changes” in the 2011 output.

A ban on diamond sales by the Zimbabwean government, coupled with lower grade gems saw the unit, which has a design capacity of 300,000 carats suffer a $5 million loss in the first half of the year.

The Southern African nation banned the sale of diamonds until stones from the government’s controversial Marange fields, where it has three joint venture mines, received certification from regulators.

Regal Group International research indicates that questions regarding human rights violations surrounded the Marange fields.

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