Mozambique: Gemfields resumes ruby mining in Montepuez

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Mozambique: Gemfields resumes ruby mining in Montepuez

12:11 CAT | 06 Jan 2025

File photo: Gemfields

Gemfields said it has resumed mining at its Montepuez ruby mine in Mozambique after temporarily suspending operations in the wake of attacks by groups it said are associated with the illegal ruby mining and trading.

In an email to National Jeweler on Jan. 2, the mining company confirmed that mining activity is “running at full capacity and the situation in the communities surrounding the mine appears calm.”

Gemfields added, “We remain vigilant and hopeful for peace in Mozambique.”

On Dec. 24, Gemfields said it was temporarily suspending operations at Montepuez, which it owns in partnership with local company Mwiriti Limitada.

Montepuez is the largest of several operations Gemfields has in Mozambique’s northernmost province, Cabo Delgado.

Gemfields said there was a “staged attempted invasion” on the mine’s village, with a group of more than 200 individuals setting fire to buildings, including a community cash point.

Mozambican police and military protected the area using a “staged escalation of force,” Gemfields said, and two in the invading group were shot and later died in the hospital.

Also on Dec. 24, property in the nearby village of Wikupuri was looted and damaged.

Individuals targeted the mine’s vocational training center, taking farming equipment provided by the mine for distribution to more than 800 local farmers.

The mining company said it relocated some of its personnel to offsite locations but began a phased return Dec. 26.

Gemfields said the groups executing the attacks are “associated with illegal ruby mining” and are looking to take advantage of the political unrest rising throughout Mozambique as a result of the country’s contested presidential election, which took place in October.

Until Dec. 24, when it first mentioned possible disruptions at Montepuez due to the conflict, the mining company had maintained that it was aware of the situation, but operations had not been affected.

However, the turmoil in the East Africa nation was exacerbated on Dec. 23, when the Mozambican Constitutional Council upheld the election results in favor of the candidate for the long-governing party, the Frelimo Party’s Daniel Chapo, who is accused of rigging the election.

The top opposition candidate, Venancio Mondlane, has declared himself the actual winner of the election and has called on Mozambicans to shut down the country, according to The New York Times, leading to protests nationwide.

Agência de Informação de Moçambique (AIM), a local news source, said Mondlane “demanded an end to all mining” until Jan. 15, the date of the presidential inauguration ceremony.

On the day of the constitutional council’s ruling, Gemfields said a group of individuals targeted Namanhumbir, the village immediately adjacent to mine’s village, setting fire to the police station, as well as the mine’s Operational Grievance Mechanism, the community center, and the community radio center.

In the village of Nanune, the water supply was cut off and in Wikupuri, instigators set fire to the police station, the police commander’s home, and the administrative offices of the Namanhumbir district.

Source: National Jeweller