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Wednesday, December 3, 2014

Rio Tinto diamond bet adds sparkle to junior miners' prospects, (NYSE: RIO)

Rio Tinto Plc's re-commitment to diamonds with a $350 million Canadian mine expansion has highlighted the prospects for a handful of smaller players boasting one of the sector's rarest commodities - new mines. After two decades without a big discovery, the $18 billion diamond mining industry will need fresh resources to feed a growing consumer appetite for the elusive stone, industry forecasters predict.They say demand has been boosted by marketing aimed at convincing couples in China and India that diamonds are forever and single women to treat themselves to a right-hand ring.Global consumer demand for diamond jewelry is forecast to grow at 4 to 5 percent annually, to $31 billion in 2018 from $25 billion last year, Anglo American Plc-owned De Beers said in a presentation last month.De Beers, the world's biggest diamond producer by market value, has also said it expects global supply to decline after 2020, with demand outstripping supply in the next 10 years.

Rio Tinto plc (Rio Tinto) is an international mining company. Shares of RIO traded higher by 2.45% or $1.13/share to $47.34. In the past year, the shares have traded as low as $44.50 and as high as $60.61. On average, 3379040 shares of RIO exchange hands on a given day and today's volume is recorded at 2358546.



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