Maputo, 24 Jun (AIM) – The London-based mining company Gemfields has raised 68.7 million US dollars in the latest auction of mixed quality rubies, held from 3 to 18 June through an online auction platform.
The raw rubies were mined by Montepuez Ruby Mining (MRM), which is 75 percent owned by Gemfields and 25 percent by its Mozambican partner, Mwiriti Limitada.
According to a statement from Gemfields, 94 of the 97 lots (comprising 217,044 carats) offered for sale, at an average price of 316.95 dollars per carat, were sold (97 per cent).
“MRM’s 22 gemstone auctions held since June 2014 have already generated USD 1.12 billion in total revenue”, reads the Gemfields statement.
Commenting on the deal, Gemfields’ Executive Director of Production and Sales, Adrian Banks, said that this auction marks the 10th anniversary since the first auction, in Mozambique, held by his company in June 2014.
“We are delighted to announce another strong result, demonstrating the confidence that loyal customers have in our product offering and auction platform. Although auction results should not be directly compared, our team is proud to have surpassed the milestone of an average selling price of 300 USD per carat at this auction”, he said.
According to Banks, “although the industry is currently facing some headwinds stemming in part from a slowdown in China, we hope that this result will provide good comfort to other stakeholders in our sector. As always, we would like to thank the MRM team, our partners Mwiriti and the Government of Mozambique, whose support makes these results and achievements possible.”
The proceeds from this auction, according to the statement, will be fully repatriated to MRM in Mozambique, with all royalties due to the government being paid on the total sale price achieved at the auction.
The auction lots were made available in Bangkok for private, face-to-face viewings by clients. After the viewings, the sales sessions took place via an online auction platform specially adapted for Gemfields and which allowed customers from various jurisdictions to participate in a sealed bid process.
“The specific combination of auctions and the quality of the lots offered in each auction vary in characteristics such as size, color and transparency, due to variations in mining production and market demand. Consequently, the results of each auction are not always directly comparable”, the document reads.
(AIM)
dt/Ad/pf (397)
