Speaking at a mining conference in South Africa, Rio Tinto diamonds and minerals chief executive officer, Harry Kenyon-Slaney, pledged his support for the project and said the company would continue to support the Zimbabwe operation. Its a diamond operation that we discovered and one that has good quality diamonds, Kenyon-Slaney said. Murowas production fell 53 per cent to 97,000 carats in 2009, according to a recent Rio Tinto report. The group holds a 78 per cent stake in the operation. The Rio Tinto boss said the resource at Murowa provided capacity to increase production by up to seven times.
We are encouraged by the progress made by the inclusive government over the last year and the improvement in the socio-economic environment of the country, Kenyon-Slaney said.
The Rio boss also commended the progress made by the countrys coalition government in improving the operating environment for investors. Diamond resources at Murowa were discovered in 1997 and the mine, which now employs 325 people, was commissioned in 2004. Rio Tinto has to date operated unhindered on the claim.
Post published in: News