Announcing the results of it auction of rough rubies held in Singapore from June 11-15, 2019, Gemfields said that it yielded a revenue of US$ 50 million at an average price per carat of US$ 51.99.  On a quality-for-quality basis, the per carat prices demonstrated continuing strong demand, the Company stated.

On offer were a mix of high, medium and commercial grade rough rubies, exclusively in untreated form, extracted from the licence, held and operated by Montepuez Ruby Mining Limitada, which is 75% owned by Gemfields and 25% by local partner Mwiriti Limitada.

The auction had 48 companies participating in the bidding.

A total of 90 lots totalling 978,197 carats were on offer, of which 84 lots (or 93%) amounting to 962,211 carats (or 98%) were sold. One lot set a new all-time price-per-carat record for any Gemfields auction, Gemfields said, but did not disclose the actual figure.

The twelve Gemfields auctions of MRM rubies held since June 2014 have generated US$ 512.6 million in aggregate revenues.

The Company also clarified that the specific auction mix and quality composition of the lots offered at each auction vary in characteristics such as size, colour and clarity on account of variations in mined production and market demand. Therefore, the results of each auction are not always directly comparable.

The proceeds of the auction will be fully repatriated to MRM in Mozambique, with the production tax due to the Government of Mozambique being paid on the full sales price achieved at the auction.

Adrian Banks, Gemfields’ Managing Director of Product & Sales, said, “Our twelfth auction of rubies from the Montepuez Ruby Mine in Mozambique has yielded another healthy result and has taken cumulative revenue since our first ruby auction in June 2014 to over half a billion dollars. Each of these dollars is repatriated to MRM in Mozambique where MRM has been the largest taxpayer in Cabo Delgado province from 2014 through 2017. Approximately 23 cents of every dollar of MRM’s revenue is paid to the government in the form of corporation tax and mineral production royalties.”

Banks emphasised that large, premium quality gems remain very hard to come by and said that strong demand for such products “is demonstrated by the new price-per-carat record set for any Gemfields auction” during the recent Singapore auction.