https://www.miningweekly.com

Gemfields generates first ruby revenue in 15 months

9th April 2021

By: Marleny Arnoldi

Deputy Editor Online

     

Font size: - +

London-listed Gemfields has generated revenue of $58-million from seven online ruby auctions held during March 15 to April 8.

The average selling price was $171.33/ct.

The 94 lots on offer, of which 89 were sold, comprised rubies mined before April 2020, when the company suspended mining operations at the Montepuez ruby mine, in Mozambique.

The company suspended the operations as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic and its related impacts, with operations having remained suspended until March this year to preserve cash during difficult market conditions.

Gemfields expects mining operations at Montepuez to ramp back up to full scale by the end of April.

The mine is 75%-owned by Gemfields and 25% by local partner Mwiriti.

“This auction, made up of seven sequential mini-auctions, has yielded the third highest revenue figure of the fourteen auctions which Montepuez has run since June 2014. We are very encouraged by the strong appetite from our clients and by the prices realised.

“As a result of the fall-out from the Covid-19 pandemic, this auction was also our first since December 2019, meaning we realised no sales at all for some 15 months,” comments Gemfields product and sales MD Adrian Banks.

Owing to the arising supply and demand dynamics, a number of the company’s clients have seen this auction as a vital opportunity to buy rubies, particularly given that Montepuez is only now restarting mining for its next mixed-quality ruby auction, which Gemfields hopes to host later this year.

Edited by Chanel de Bruyn
Creamer Media Senior Deputy Editor Online

Comments

The functionality you are trying to access is only available to subscribers.

If you are already a subscriber, you can Login Here.

If you are not a subscriber, you can subscribe now, by selecting one of the below options.

For more information or assistance, please contact us at subscriptions@creamermedia.co.za.

Option 1 (equivalent of R125 a month):

Receive a weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine
(print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
Receive daily email newsletters
Access to full search results
Access archive of magazine back copies
Access to Projects in Progress
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format

Option 2 (equivalent of R375 a month):

All benefits from Option 1
PLUS
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports, in PDF format, on various industrial and mining sectors including Electricity; Water; Energy Transition; Hydrogen; Roads, Rail and Ports; Coal; Gold; Platinum; Battery Metals; etc.

Already a subscriber?

Forgotten your password?

MAGAZINE & ONLINE

SUBSCRIBE

RESEARCH CHANNEL AFRICA

SUBSCRIBE

CORPORATE PACKAGES

CLICK FOR A QUOTATION