London: Gemfields has announced the results of an auction of rough rubies in Singapore from 10 – 14 December 2019. The rough rubies were extracted from the licence held and operated by Montepuez Ruby Mining Limitada (“MRM”), which is 75% owned by Gemfields and 25% by local partner Mwiriti Limitada.
Highlights:
• Auction revenues of USD 71.5 million;
• Of the 104 lots offered, 91 were sold (88%);
• Average price of USD 77.12 per carat;
• 927,130 carats sold out of the 1,158,114 carats offered (80%); and
• The 13 Gemfields auctions of MRM rubies held since June 2014 have generated USD 584.1 million in aggregate revenues.
Gemfields’ thirteenth auction of rough rubies from Montepuez saw 53 companies placing bids. The auction offered high, medium and commercial grade rough rubies, exclusively in untreated form.
The consistency of supply and the reliability of the Gemfields’ grading system continues to be well received by buyers, given that it reduces risk, improves manufacturing efficiencies and aids their ability to meet demand for larger orders.
The auction generated total revenues of USD 71.5 million at an average realised price of USD 77.12 per carat. The proceeds of this auction will be fully repatriated to MRM in Mozambique, with the production tax due to the Government of Mozambique being paid on the full sales price achieved at the auction.
The specific auction mix and quality composition of the lots offered at each auction vary in characteristics such as size, colour and clarity on account of variations in mined production and market demand. Therefore, the results of each auction are not always directly comparable.
On a quality-for-quality basis however, the per carat prices demonstrated continuing strong demand.
Adrian Banks, Gemfields’ Managing Director of Product & Sales, commented, “Our latest ruby auction in Singapore has delivered another stellar result for Mozambican rubies, with both demand and pricing clearly robust. We are particularly pleased to have seen such a diverse spread of winners, with 37 companies taking home at least one lot. The auction, our second biggest by value to date, means that Gemfields’ annual revenues from ruby and emerald auctions has for the first time exceeded USD 200 million.
The auction marked a further milestone in that 12 prominent lots from this auction have become the first Gemfields rubies ever to pioneer the use of blockchain in facilitating improved supply chain traceability. The winners are therefore able to validate the route to market via the Provenance Proof Blockchain established by the Gübelin Gem Lab of Switzerland.
We thank our clients, our local partner Mwiriti Limitada, the Government of Mozambique and the hard-working Gemfields teams across eight countries for their efforts and support underpinning the ongoing growth of the African coloured gemstone sector.”
