Rio Tinto plans to produce up to three million carats of diamonds annually from its Bunder deposit in the Bundelkhand region of India's Madhya Pradesh, reports the Business Standard. The mine, which has a life of 25 years, is expected to yield 37 million tonnes of kimberlite, containing about 27.4 million carats of diamonds.

Rio Tinto began work on the US$500 million project in 2002. Since then, the company has passed the two initial reconnaissance and prospecting stages of mine development, and reportedly expects production from the Bunder project to begin in 2019.

As part of the third and final development stage, the state government last year awarded a letter of intent (LoI) to the miner for mining in the area. However, Business Standard reports that for the LoI to be converted into a formal mining lease, the company first has to secure environment and forest clearances and get a mining plan approved.

"We hope to get the conditions soon and start construction activities in 2017. The first batch of diamonds will be produced in 2019," Rio Tinto India Managing Director Nik Senapati told the news source.

According to Rio Tinto Diamonds' India Chief Operating Officer Tarun Malkani, the Bunder diamond deposit has been identified as seven times richer than the Panna diamond mine, India's sole operational diamond mine, and with a production rate of 20 times higher.

In addition to the Bunder project, the company also wholly owns the Argyle mine in Australia, 60 percent of the Diavik mine in Canada and 78 percent of Zimbabwe's Morowa mine.