London: Gemfields has announced the results of an auction of rough rubies in Singapore from 11 – 15 June 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 – Ruby Auction:
• Auction revenues of USD 50.0 million;
• Of the 90 lots offered, 84 were sold (93%);
• Average price of USD 51.99 per carat;
• 962,211 carats sold out of the 978,197 carats offered (98%);
• One lot set a new all-time price-per-carat record for any Gemfields auction; and
• The twelve Gemfields auctions of MRM rubies held since June 2014 have generated USD 512.6 million in aggregate revenues.

Gemfields’ twelfth auction of rough rubies from Montepuez saw 48 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 reducesrisk, improves manufacturing efficiencies and aids their ability to meet demand for larger orders.

The auction generated total revenues of USD 50.0 million at an average realised price of USD 51.99 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.