Rio Tinto has announced it will invest $803 million to speed development of the
underground block cave project at its Argyle Diamond Mine in Western Australia.

The company says the underground project, which is being constructed below
Argyle’s open pit mine, will be fully operational in 2013 and will extend the
life of the mine until at least 2019.
The funding will cover project development and construction of extraction
services, crushers, a conveyer, and pump stations, Rio Tinto says.

Construction will accelerate in the first half of 2011, and Rio Tinto expects
production to hit its target of 9 million metric tons per year within two
years.

JCK