Murowa diamond mine Murowa diamond mine The Murowa diamond mine is a diamond mine located in Mazvihwa, south central Zimbabwe, about 40 kilometres from the asbestos mining town of Zvishavane in the Midlands province. The mine is majority owned and operated by the Rio Tinto Group, which also owns the Argyle diamond mine in Australia and part of the Diavik Diamond Mine in Canada. The mine is a combination of open pit and underground construction; current estimates put construction costs at $61 million USD and mine reserves are 19 million tonnes of ore, with an ore grade of per tonne. Murowa consists of
Argyle diamond mine ore and acid washed, they are sorted and shipped to Perth for further sorting and sale. A significant quantity of diamonds are cut in India, where low costs of labour allow small diamonds to be cut for a profit; this is especially relevant to the Argyle mine, which on average produces smaller rough diamonds than other mines do. The diamonds produced at the Argyle diamond mine are of an average low quality. Only 5% of mined diamonds are of gem quality, compared to a worldwide average of 20% (Author Janine Roberts contends that the "near-gem" quality rating is subjective and