Rio Tinto pink diamonds fetch record prices

The annual sale of Rio Tinto's rare pink-hued diamonds attracted unprecedented interest with at least two of the stones fetching record prices of over USD 2 million, the mining giant said Monday.
The 2013 Argyle Pink Diamonds Tender of 64 red, pink and blue stones drew a record number of bids over $1 million from established markets such as Japan and Australia as well as emerging markets China and India.
The highlight was the Argyle Phoenix, a 1.56 carat gem and one of three Fancy Red diamonds on offer, which sold for more than USD 2 million to a Singapore-based jeweller, the highest per-carat price paid for any diamond ever produced from Rio's Argyle mine in Western Australia.

The exact price was not disclosed due to client confidentiality.
Another record was set for the Argyle Dauphine, a 2.51 carat Fancy Deep Pink diamond, which also sold for more than USD 2 million, to a US-based dealer.
Rio's Pink Diamonds manager Josephine Johnson said the prices reflected "increasing demand from the world's top jewellers, designers, collectors and connoisseurs".
"These fabulous flukes of nature are a good news story in the mining industry at the moment," she told AFP.
"There was a lot of interest from our established markets such as Australia, the United States, Japan and Europe but also China and India, where there is now very strong demand.