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Rio Tinto has signed a state support agreement with the government of Madhya Pradesh relating to the Bunder diamond project, which is said to be one of the biggest new discoveries of recent years.

Rio Tinto has signed a deal with the government of Madhya Pradesh in India that sees it commit to expanding its Bunder diamond project.

It has reached a state support agreement with the authorities and will now work towards advancing progress at the site, which is located 500km south-east of Delhi.

Research by the mining giant has indicated Bunder has an inferred resource of 27.4 million carats and managing director of the company's Indian operations Nik Senapti noted it has "significant" possibilities.

He described the arrangement as "a key milestone in our journey to unlock this potential by developing a world-class diamond mine".

The discovery was recently hailed as one of the largest diamond finds in the last decade by head of exploration for the business Eric Finlayson in an interview with Bloomberg.

He noted Rio Tinto is carrying out other exploration projects in the country, adding he is "pretty sure" they will be successful.

Both imports and exports of polished diamonds by India rose last month, further adding to the year-on-year gains seen earlier in 2010.

Trade of polished diamonds by India climbed during August, new data has revealed.

According to statistics from the Gem and Jewellery Export Promotion Council, the country exported polished precious stones worth $2.3 billion (£1.45 billion) last month, a year-on-year increase of 65 per cent.

And the value of polished diamonds brought into the country climbed 43 per cent to $1.36 billion, the figures showed, even though the volume of the imported stones dipped by 20 per cent.

The figures mean that for the first eight months of 2010, India exported polished stones worth $14.8 billion – a 71 per cent climb on the same period in 2009 – with the imported equivalent up 43 per cent to $9.1 billion.

Exports could be set to rise further in the future, as Eric Finlayson of Rio Tinto was recently quoted by Bloomberg as saying the firm has made "the largest diamond discovery in the last ten years" at its Bunder project in India.

Rio Tinto has made what it is claiming to be the biggest diamond find in the last decade at a site in India.

The Bunder project in the country is "the largest diamond discovery in the last ten years", head of exploration for the mining firm Eric Finlayson was quoted by Bloomberg as saying.

He explained the company is now undertaking "a major drilling programme" after has completed a pre-feasibility study and it has applied for a mining lease.

The Bunder project is estimated to have 37 million metric tonnes at a grade of 0.7 carats per tonne for 27.4 million carats and Mr Finlayson added the business is also carrying out further exploration projects elsewhere in the country in a bid to unearth more of the precious stones.

"I'm pretty sure that we'll be successful," he remarked.

Earlier this month, Rio Tinto revealed it is to invest $803 million in expanding it Argyle diamond mine in eastern Australia as it looks to satisfy growing demand for the precious stones.

Ghana has posted a year-on-year increase in diamond production for the first half of 2010, with revenue generated from the stones also rising.

Diamond production in Ghana climbed during the opening half of this year, new official statistics have revealed.

Data from the country's Chamber of Mines showed output of the precious stones was up 14 per cent year-on-year in the six-month period, Bloomberg reports.

The increase resulted in a substantial rise in revenue generated from diamond production, jumping 15 per cent to $6.85 million (£4.4 million) when compared to the same period in 2009.

In total, 201,792 carats of the precious stones were mined in the first half of this year.

The rate of production across the period was consistent, with 99,008 carats of diamonds retrieved from mines in the three months to June 30th.

Ghana is one of a number of countries that have recently released diamond statistics.

Exports of the polished and rough gems from Israel rose from to $5.9 billion between January and August 2010, up from $3.3 billion a year ago.