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Ruby Production Falls 55% to 252.6 Thousand Carats in Q1

Ruby Production Falls 55% to 252.6 Thousand Carats in Q1

Ruby production in Mozambique fell 55 per cent year-on-year in the first quarter, to 252,600 carats, due to problems at the country’s largest mine, according to budget execution data consulted today by Lusa.

‘It shows poor performance, down 8 per cent compared to the annual plan and a decrease in production of around 55 per cent compared to the same period last year,’ reads the budget execution report for January to March from the Ministry of Economy and Finance.

Overall ruby production in Mozambique had already fallen in 2023, to 2.7 million carats, compared to 4.2 million carats in 2022 and five million carats in 2021.

In the first three months of 2024, production fell to 252,665 carats of rubies, compared to 567,463 carats in the same period of 2023.

‘This result was largely due to the low production levels of the largest producer of this mineral, associated with breakdowns in production equipment and attacks on its mine in recent times,’ reads the report.

Since 2012, ruby mining at MRM’s mine in Cabo Delgado, northern Mozambique, the largest in the country, has brought in almost a billion euros, according to figures released at the end of April by Gemfields, which owns 75 per cent of the company.

According to data up to December from the ‘G Factor for Natural Resources’ report, which aims to promote ‘transparency’ about the level of wealth from human resources shared by Gemfields ‘with the governments of host countries’ from the mining, oil, gas, timber and fishing sectors, Montepuez Rubi Mining (MRM) had a total revenue of 151.3 million dollars (141 million euros) in 2023.

Since Gemfields acquired 75 per cent of MRM – in February 2012, when mining began and ruby auctions began two years later – the mine has accumulated revenues of more than 1,055 million dollars (982.7 million euros), having paid the Mozambican state 257.4 million dollars (239.7 million euros) in the same period.

Last year, MRM paid the Mozambican state 53.2 million dollars (49.6 million euros) in royalties and taxes, according to the same report.

MRM is a Mozambican company that operates in the Montepuez ruby deposit, located in the north-east of Mozambique, in the province of Cabo Delgado, covering approximately 33,600 hectares.

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‘It is believed to be the most significant ruby deposit recently discovered in the world,’ says the company, which guarantees that it has created more than 1,500 jobs locally, 95 per cent of which are for Mozambicans, with 65 per cent coming from Cabo Delgado.

MRM is 75% owned by Gemfields and 25% by Mwiriti Limitada, a Mozambican company.

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