Argyle Diamond Mine, WESTERN AUSTRALIA
Airing Date: Sep 19th, 2005
The Argyle mine is located in the Kimberley region in the far north east of Western Australia. The mine lies around 550km south west of Darwin in a rugged, remote region. During the wet season, from October to March, temperatures reach over 40C. A complete camp infrastructure had to be built to support the operation, with most of the 520 workforce operating on a two-week-in, two-week-out schedule from Perth.
In 1983 construction began at the site and by 1985 when the main plant was commissioned more than 15 million carats of alluvial diamonds had been recovered. Since then more that 600 million carats of diamonds have been extracted. On average, they remove 15 kilograms of diamonds a day. The diamonds produced by Argyle are found in a range of colours including white, champagne and pink. Argyle's open pit mine is the world's primary source of rare pink diamonds, which have become the company's signature stone. The finest pink stones are retained by the company in Perth, where they are cut and polished in Argyle's own factory and sold by international tender.
Heliwork WA run tours of the Argyle Diamond Mine, departing from Kununurra in WA, and taking a scenic flight to the mine. Along the way you pass across Lake Argyle, the eighth largest man made lake in the world. It was constructed in 1972 and has over ninety mini-islands spread throughout, which are tips from the ranges. The flight allows you a bird's eye view of the massive open cut mine. The tour goes through the mine itself, taking in the miner's dining area and right down to the bottom of the pit where you can see the process in action, including the female drivers of the enormous mining trucks!
You also visit the diamond display room where you will see Argyle's most renowned piece, the Waterfall Necklace. It was crafted by Koji Iwakura and has white & champagne diamonds with a total of 740 gems. The Waterfall Necklace has a total of 85 carats and is worth around half a million dollars!
While in Kununurra you can visit Kimberley Fine Diamonds, a family owned business selling a range of pink diamonds including diamonds acquired from the exclusive Argyle Diamond Pink Tender, something so rare that most people will never see one. Kimberley Fine Diamonds provides a wide range of jewellery including rings, earrings, pendants, pearls, bracelets, wedding pieces, necklaces and much more.
Even though the diamond is the hardest of all gemstones known to man, it is the simplest in composition. It is common carbon, like the graphite in a lead pencil, yet has a melting point of approximately 4,000 degrees centigrade, two and a half times greater than steel. Billions of years ago, heat and pressure transformed the carbon into diamond. The volcanic mass in which this crystallization took place, then thrust upwards and broke through the earth's surface to cool in kimberlite or lamproite pipes. It is in these pipes that most diamonds are found today.
Further information
One way from Perth to Kununurra from $288 a person. Includes taxes. Conditions apply.
Skywest
Telephone: 1300 66 00 88
Mine tour from $350 a person. Includes scenic flight from Kununurra, mine tour & lunch. Tours run April - November. Website: slingair.com.au
Rooms From $130 a double in high season, $100 a double in the low season. Facilities include pool, restaurant & bar.
All Seasons Kununurra,
Telephone: 08 9168 1455
Prices correct at 19/9/05
