MINING NEWS: Tiffany quits NT diamond mine

Gary Park

The name that is synonymous with diamonds wants no part of digging for the gems in the Northwest Territories. Tiffany & Co. unloaded its 14 percent holding on Aber Diamond, the co-owner of Diavik, Canada’s second diamond mine.

The U.S. jewelry retailer will, however, retain a sales agreement with Aber, except that a previously applied discount to open-market diamond prices has been scrapped.

That leaves Aber free to sell all of its 40 percent share of Diavik diamonds at full market prices.

Tiffany is expected to raise about US$268 million from the sale of its 8 million shares and will book a US$194 million gain for the quarter ending Jan. 31, 2005.

Tiffany’s initial investment gave Toronto-based Aber the money to develop the Diavik mine, which is now controlled 60 percent and operated by a subsidiary of Rio Tinto of London.