Diamonds are Forever?
BY ELIZABETH FABRI AUSTRALIA'S only operational diamond mine – Argyle – is almost at the end of its run leaving a huge void for emerging juniors to fill once it is depleted. Attention is now turning to the WA Government to relieve cost pressures facing budding producers, namely high royalty rates. The Rio Tinto-owned Argyle mine’s days are numbered with a little over a year on the clock until its doors close. The mine, not far from Kununurra in the East Kimberley, WA, was famed for its rare pink gems as well as its more common champagne and cognac-hued stones, which can fetch in the millions via international auctions. The end of Argyle will be a sad day...