The London-based mining company Gemfields on Wednesday announced that it has raised 1.47 million US dollars from an auction of commercial and low-quality rubies held from 11 to 13 September.
In total, 174 kilogrammes of gems (869,862 carats) were sold with an average sale price of 1.7 US dollars per carat.
The gems were mined in the northern Mozambican district of Montepuez by Montepuez Ruby Mining Limitada (MRM), which is 75 per cent owned by Gemfields and 25 per cent by the Mozambican company Mwiriti Limitada.
In a statement, Gemfields stresses that “the proceeds of this auction will be fully repatriated to MRM in Mozambique, with all royalties due to the government of the Republic of Mozambique being paid on the full sales prices achieved at the auction”.
According to Adrian Banks, Gemfields’ Managing Director of Product and Sales, “the results from today’s auction of commercial and lower quality ruby highlight again that the market remains very healthy”.
Montepuez Ruby Mining (MRM) holds a 25-year concession on an area of 340 square kilometres in Montepuez, in the northern province of Cabo Delgado.
Since 2014, 980 million US dollars have been raised from the auction of rubies and other gems from the mine.
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