Rio Tinto and its advisers at Morgan Stanley are developing plans to raise roughly $250 million in a separate listing of the company's diamonds division on the London Stock Exchange.

The flotation, code-named 'Project Aurora,' could take place as early as autumn of this year. The listing of the operation could be worth up to $5 billion, according to Sky News. Rio's diamond business operates globally, and includes mines in Australia, Canada, India and Zimbabwe.

Staying on trend of reduced capital expenditure, "recent reports have suggested that Rio is also close to offloading its 60% stake in the Diavik diamond mine in Canada."