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Mozambique: Montepuez rubies bring in €974M at auctions in nine years – Gemfields | Lusa
7:00 CAT | 11 Dec 2023
File photo: Gemfields
Mining company Gemfields announced on Thursday that the auctions of precious stones, namely rubies, mined in Montepuez,northern Mozambique, have already generated a total revenue of €974 million in nine years.
In a statement, Gemfields, which leads Montepuez Ruby Mining (MRM), said that these 21 auctions, held since June 2014, “have already generated” US$1.049 million (€974 million) in total revenue.
The last of these auctions took place between 20 November and 5 December, after 97 lots of rubies, comprising 239,591 carats, were presented to investors in Bangkok, generating total revenue of US$69.5 million from the trading of raw rubies of mixed quality.
“The proceeds of this auction will be fully repatriated to MRM in Mozambique, with all royalties due to the government of Mozambique being paid on the total sale price achieved at the auction,” said the Gemfields statement.
The raw rubies sold in recent days were mined by Montepuez Ruby Mining, in Cabo Delgado, northern Mozambique, a company 75% owned by Gemfields and 25% by its Mozambican partner Mwiriti, and reached an average price of US$290.02 (€269) per carat.
“We’ve seen ruby prices at our auctions rise ever higher in recent years and our final 2023 auction further endorsed this trend. This auction showed that demand and the price of raw rubies are decidedly healthy. Gemfields’ total auction revenue for 2023 is US$242 million [€224.6 million], the second highest in our history,” said Adrian Banks, managing director of products and sales at Gemfields, quoted in the same press release.
This latest auction also took Gemfields past the “milestone” of US$2 billion (€1.856 billion) in accumulated sales at emerald and ruby auctions.
“An achievement of which the Gemfields team and our stakeholders can be very proud, especially given the full remittance of these sales revenues to the countries of origin, and the payment of almost US$400 million [€371 million] in mineral royalties and corporate taxes to the governments of Mozambique and Zambia,” adds Adrian Banks.
Gemfields presents itself as a world leader in the extraction and marketing of coloured gemstones, also holding a 75% share in the Kagem emerald mine in Zambia, described as the largest emerald producing mine in the world.
The Montepuez ruby mine in Mozambique is considered to be one of the most significant deposits of recently discovered rubies in the world.
Source: Lusa
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