Gemfields ruby auction realises $31.7m

GEMFIELDS reported strong demand for fine-quality rubies on Monday despite market turbulence, with its latest mixed-quality ruby auction generating $31.7m in revenue.“Demand and pricing for fine-quality rubies remain strong,” said Adrian Banks, Gemfields’ MD of product and sales. “Today’s auction result demonstrated the resilience of rubies in turbulent times,” he said.The auction, held between June 2 and 13, saw 78 of the 90 lots offered finding buyers, representing an 87% sell-through rate. Of the 99,830 carats offered for sale, 68,705 carats were sold at an average price of $461.48 per carat.Banks said there were ongoing market challenges, noting “instability in the market stemming from, inter alia, ongoing geo-political turbulence, China’s economic difficulties and considerable tariff uncertainty.”A standout lot was a 36-carat ruby from a newer area of the Montepuez Ruby Mining (MRM) mine in Mozambique, which became the third-most-valuable single-gemstone lot in MRM’s history. The stone attracted strong interest attracting “a highly pleasing sale price.”The inclusion of rubies from previously under-represented areas of the mine was encouraging, said Gemfields.The auction followed a separate mini-auction in April that generated $7.2m from predominantly small-sized gemstones that would normally have been included in the June sale. Banks said this earlier sale, combined with unsold higher-weight, lower-quality lots, had skewed the overall average price per carat.MRM is 75% owned by Gemfields and 25% by local partner Mwiriti Limitada. All proceeds will be repatriated to MRM, with royalties paid to the Mozambican government on the full sales prices achieved.The post Gemfields ruby auction realises $31.7m appeared first on Miningmx.Weiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Mining.com Weiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Mining.com