Rio Tinto discovers diamond resource in Madhya Pradesh

Global mining giant Rio Tinto has discovered an immensely rich diamond resource in....

Global mining giant Rio Tinto has discovered an immensely rich diamond resource in Madhya Pradesh, a development that could boost the company’s plans of investing "hundreds of million dollars" in the country.

"Rio Tinto has completed an Order of Magnitude study, which has identified an inferred resource (of diamond) of 37 million tonnes," Rio Tinto India Managing Director Nik Senapati told PTI.

It is estimated that the grade of the inferred resource is 0.7 carats per tonne, he added.

Asked about the size of investment that the company would make after it gets mining lease and environmental clearance for diamond mining project, Mr. Senapati said it would depend on further evaluations, but could be in "hundreds of million dollars."

"The investment size would depend on further evaluations such as distribution of diamonds in the pipes, hardness of rocks and so on. But, it would be in the order of hundreds of millions dollars," he said.