Argyle mine is situated in the Kimberley region in the far northeast of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is located to the southwest of Lake Argyle in the Matsu Ranges, about 550 kilometres (340 miles) southwest of Darwin. 
The Argyle diamond mine was opened in 1985 and is owned and operated by Rio Tinto on land owned by aboriginal communities.
The Argyle diamond mine is notable for being the first successful commercial diamond mine exploiting a volcanic pipe of lamproite, rather than the more usual kimberlite pipe. 
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%; of the remaining 95%, they are about evenly split between classifications of "near gem quality" and industrial grade. 80% of Argyle diamonds are brown, followed by 16% yellow, 2% white, 2% grey, and less than 1% pink and green. Despite the low production volume of pink and red diamonds, the Argyle mine is the only reliable source in the world, producing 90 to 95% of all pink and red diamonds. 
Since commercial production of the Argyle mine commenced, over 700 million carats of diamonds have been produced, with a peak production of 42.8 Mcts in 1994.