Toronto: Rio Tinto has partnered with mineral exploration group Shore Gold to develop a diamond mine in Canada.
The option agreement will potentially grant Rio Tinto up to 60% of the proceeds from the Star-Orion South Diamond Project in Saskatchewan. Shore Gold has been developing the site for more than 20 years.
The asset contains 55.4 million carats of rough diamonds at a projected average price of $210 per carat, according to a resource estimate from 2015. The project’s “inferred” resources — those that are assumed to be there but have not been verified — amount to an additional 11.5 million carats.
“We are extremely pleased to partner with Rio Tinto to further develop the potential of the project,” said Ken MacNeill, CEO of Shore Gold. “Rio Tinto is one of the few companies in the world with the resources and expertise to move forward with a project of the magnitude of the Star-Orion South Diamond Project.”
Rio Tinto currently owns the Argyle mine in Australia, as well as a 60% stake in the Diavik mine in Canada. However, the company only expects Argyle to remain in operation until 2020.
