JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – Aim-listed emerald miner Gemfields achieved record rainy season production of 6.6-million carats in the three months ended December 2012.

This represented a 69% increase on the 3.9-million carats produced in the quarter ended December 2011.

The average gemstone grade for the quarter was 288 ct/t, the company reported in a market update on Wednesday.

It added that unit production costs for the December quarter dropped to $0.66/ct, down from $0.87/ct in the December 2011 quarter. Cash rock-handling costs and unit ore production costs followed this downward trend.

Output for the first half of the 2013 financial year amounted to 14.5-million carats, compared with the 8.8-million carats produced in the first half of the previous financial year.

"For the half year, we are 65% ahead of where we were last year. When combined with the robust auction results in November, our emerald business remains a solid platform and continues to support our ongoing growth,” Gemfields CEO Ian Harebottle commented.

The ongoing large-scale overburden removal programme at Gemfields’ 75%-owned Zambia-based Kagem emerald mine – the world’s largest – continued to open up new areas for future ore production and was progressing to plan.

However, illegal mining activity within the boundaries of the Kagem mining licence was not yet fully resolved and the company said it continued to work with key ministries to alleviate this.

Meanwhile, the development of the significant Montepuez ruby mine, in Mozambique, in which Gemfields held a 75% stake, was progressing well.

In addition, Gemfields recently acquired the Fabergé brand, which would provide the company with direct control over a high-end luxury goods platform.

“We look forward to integrating Fabergé into the Gemfields family and we intend to update the market on the progress made as part of our interim results, which are expected in March 2013,” Harebottle said.