Argyle Joint Venture announce further AK1 open pit development.

LONDON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 23, 1998--RIO Tinto Tin´to

n. 1. A red Madeira wine, wanting the high aroma of the white sorts, and, when old, resembling tawny port. plc (NYSE NYSE

See: New York Stock Exchange :RTP (1) (Rapid Transport Protocol) The protocol used in IBM's High Performance Routing (HPR) system.

(2) (Realtime Transport Protocol) An IP protocol that supports real time transmission of voice and video. ) announced today that the Argyle Diamond Mines The Argyle diamond mine (Coordinates: ) is a diamond mine located in the north-east of Western Australia. Joint Venture parties, Rio Tinto Rio Tinto may refer to:

Rio Tinto (Paraíba), in Paraíba State, Brazil.
Río Tinto (river), a river in Spain.
Rio Tinto Group, a multinational mining company.
Rio Tinto (Gondomar), a civil parish in the municipality of Gondomar, Portugal.

(57%), Ashton (38%) and Western Australian Diamond Trust (5%), today approved the first stage of further development of the AK1 open pit mine in Western Australia Western Australia, state (1991 pop. 1,409,965), 975,920 sq mi (2,527,633 sq km), Australia, comprising the entire western part of the continent. It is bounded on the N, W, and S by the Indian Ocean. Perth is the capital. . This requires pre-stripping approximately 100 million tons of waste to access an additional 17.6 million tons of open pit ore at an average grade of 2.58 carats per ton (cpt). This gives estimated AK1 open pit mining reserves as at June 30, 1998, of 64 million tons at 2.58 cpt. Work on the pit extension is scheduled to commence immediately.

The decision follows studies considering a range of mine life extension options. It reflects the partner's expectation that further extensions of open pit operations are likely at Argyle based on this work. Scheduling and costing is already in progress to detail a second stage of pit development and this work is expected to be complete during the second half of 1998. This positive outlook for the Argyle operation has been made possible by a sustained focus on improving operating efficiencies and reducing costs.

Underground development of Argyle remains a possibility at a later date, once the full open pit potential has been realised.


    CONTACT: RIO TINTO
              Peter Darling, Media Relations
              011-44-171-753-2355
                       or
              Gavin Anderson & Company
              Jason Kendy, 212-373-0200

COPYRIGHT 1998 Business Wire
No portion of this article can be reproduced without the express written permission from the copyright holder.

Reader Opinion

Article Details
Printer friendly Cite/link Email Feedback
Publication:	Business Wire
Article Type:	Article
Geographic Code:	8AUST
Date:	Jun 23, 1998
Words:	229
Previous Article:	American Technologies Group Announces\ Launch of Network Marketing Joint Venture.
Next Article:	Acacia Technologies Adds Turkish Distributor; Partnership Continues Company Push Into Key Eastern European Markets.
Topics:	Diamond industry Diamond mining Diamonds

Related Articles
Ashton Joins Texas Star Resources as Bidding Partner on the "Crater of Diamonds" Lamproite.
Argyle Joint Venture announce further AK1 open pit development.
Mine study complete this fall: company head optimistic over diamond find. (Mining).
Kinross, Placer Dome join forces: partnership increases gold mining life by 20 years. (Mining).
Expanding markets predicted for PGMs.
Pamour slated for production in 2005.
Joint Venture has big plans for pair of properties.
PJV announces $8M exploration program.
Towards establishing a modern baseline for paleopathology: trace-producing parasites in a bivalve host.