Mumbai: Gemfields has announced revenue of $25.4 million from its November–December auction of commercial-quality rough emeralds, marking one of the company’s strongest sales performances of the year despite earlier disruptions at the Kagem mine in Zambia.

Held via private viewings in Jaipur, India, followed by an online sealed-bid process, the auction offered 46 lots of rough emeralds. Of these, 45 lots (98%) were sold at an average price of $7.46 per carat. The auction made available nearly 3.66 million carats, with about 3.41 million carats sold.

Gemfields’ Product and Sales MD, Adrian Banks, said the result brings a difficult operational year to a positive close, noting that mining at Kagem had been temporarily suspended in the first half of the year.

“Today’s auction results mark a successful conclusion to a challenging year for Kagem. Despite the temporary suspension of mining operations, the business has delivered a strong performance for 2025, culminating in this auction’s contribution to the $79 million total Kagem auction revenues for 2025,” he said.

Banks added that firm pricing across all quality categories indicates that the pressures seen in late 2024 and early 2025 have largely eased. Strengthening market sentiment and steady demand since the third quarter have continued to support sales.

Gemfields noted that auction mixes vary according to size, colour, and clarity as production and market demand shift, making direct comparison between auctions difficult.

Since July 2009, Kagem’s 53 auctions have generated $1.15 billion in total revenue. Recent commercial-quality auction results include:

• $25.5 million (Aug–Sept 2023) at $7.51/ct
• $17.1 million (Mar 2024) at $4.45/ct
• $10.8 million (Aug–Sept 2024) at $4.47/ct
• $16.4 million (Apr 2025) at $6.87/ct