A rise in output at the Argyle diamond mine in Australia helped Rio Tinto to a 38% jump in production on the year in the fourth quarter. The diversified miner reported production in the quarter of 4.489 ‎million carats. For all of 2013, Rio's diamond production jumped 22% on 2012 to ‎‎16.027 million carats.



Output at its 100% owned Argyle mine surged 57% to 3.153 ‎million carats, which the firm attributed to a rise in processed ore and higher-grade ore after it began underground operations at the mine in April 2013. Production for last year at the mine soared 35% to 11.395 million carats.



Meanwhile, there was a 9% rise in output to 1.240 million carats from its 60% holding in the Diavik mine in Canada's NorthWest Territories as a result of a rise in ore processed as the underground mine increased its production capacity. However, this was offset by lower grades.



The miner's share of production at Diavik inched up 0.2% to 4.346 million carats for 2013 as a whole.



Rio Tinto reported a 7% increase in output at its Murowa mine in Zimbabwe to 105,000 carats. The firm owns 78% of the operation. For all of 2013, production edged up 3% to 322,000 carats.‎