Development work at Rio Tinto’s Bunder mine may commence in 2017 when all clearances are finally received, NikSenapati, managing director of Rio Tinto India has been quoted as saying in a media report. He explained that all parties are working towards getting the clearances which should take in the order of 12-18 months.

Senapati also clarified that even if fast track clearances were received, the company “would not like to rush the process and get stuck later whether it is in approval process or engineering rigor.”

The Bunder diamond deposit was discovered in Madhya Pradesh in 2004 and prospecting and exploration for the project has now been completed. An in-principle approval of the mining lease has also been secured. The company is now engaged in completing other formalities required to secure a full-fledged licence.

The final allocation of necessary capex will be decided by Rio Tinto which has a number of projects across the globe that require capital. “Capex will be spent on the best projects and the Indian projects will be evaluated with that in mind,” Senapati said. 

It may be recalled that Rio Tinto had unveiled a jewellery collection in 2012 which was based on diamonds that were extracted during the exploration stage at the Bunder mine. It has also taken up extensive education and training programmes among the communities in the vicinity of the project and enjoys good support from the local people and the government.

In 2014, Rio Tinto Diamonds celebrated the 25th anniversary of its first office in India, opened in Mumbai in 1989, with the launch of seven new collections under their flagship diamond jewellery initiative, Nazraana.