Rio Tinto’s H1 Diamond Revenue Drops 46%

Rio Tinto said revenues from diamonds for the six months that ended 30th June 2023 plunged 46% to $250 million year-on-year, primarily due to lower production volumes, some of which have been deferred to the second half of the year.

Last week the miner said its H1 diamond output declined 10% to 1.92 million carats compared with 2.14 million carats produced in H1 2022.

The company’s capital expenditure on diamonds in H1 2023 went up to $37 million from $22 million in H1 2022.

The diamond segment’s underlying earnings before income tax depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) fell 64% to $70 million.