Auction of Mozambican rubies raises 55.3 million dollars

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Auction of Mozambican rubies raises 55.3 million dollars

8:34 CAT | 26 Dec 2018

In file CoM

The latest auction of Mozambican rubies, held in Singapore from 10 to 14 December, raised 55.3 million US dollars, according to a press release from the mining company, Montepuez Ruby Mining (MRM).

685,363 carats of rubies were on offer, of which 655,623 carats (96 per cent) were sold. The rubies fetched an average price of 84.32 dollars a carat. The money from the auction will be entirely repatriated to Mozambique.

This was the 11th auction of MRM rubies since June 2014. Taken together, the auctions have produced gross revenue of 462.6 million dollars.

MRM is 75 per cent owned by the British company Gemfields, and 25 per cent by the Mozambican company Mwiriti.

According to the MRM release, since February 2013 MRM has invested more than 182 million dollars in the construction and operation of the ruby mine in Montepuez, in the northern province of Cabo Delgado. It has paid 107 million dollars in production taxes to the government, which is about 26 per cent of the total revenue.

It has also invested 2.7 million dollars in community development programmes (notably in health, education and food production), as well as in environmental conservation projects in partnership with two nearby conservation areas, the Quirimbas National Park and the Niassa National Reserve.

Adrian Banks, the Executive Director of Products and Sales of Gemfields, said “Our most recent auction in Singapore produced a convincing result which shows the growing and robust demand for Mozambican rubies”.

The release added that the consistency in the supply and the reliability of the Gemfeilds system of classifying rubies “continue to be well received by the buyers, since this reduces risk and helps in the capacity to meet demands for larger amounts”.

The Gemfields Chief Executive Officer, Sean Gilbertson, said that MRM and Gemfields “believe that coloured precious stones should be mined and marketed based on three key values – legitimacy, transparency and integrity”.

“We also believe that Mozambique should benefit equitably from its natural resources”, added Gilbertson, repeated his company’s pledge to repatriate the full amount of the revenue from the auction to Mozambique, and to pay the taxes owing in full.

Source: AIM