Gemstone miner Gemfields recorded revenues of $46.2-million from its latest auction of mixed-quality rough ruby recovered at the Montepuez ruby mine, in Mozambique.

Of the 102 lots on offer, 97 were sold.

A lower quantity of ‘premium’ rubies on offer was the key driver of the lower auction revenues, the company points out.

However, the average price per carat reached a record high for its mixed-quality ruby auctions, while observing some softer prices and thinner bidding.

The rough rubies were extracted by Montepuez Ruby Mining (MRM), which is 75%-owned by Gemfields and 25% by its Mozambican partner Mwiriti.

The proceeds of the auction will be fully repatriated to MRM in Mozambique, with all royalties owing to government being paid on the full sales price achieved at the auction.

“Despite ongoing economic challenges in China and geopolitical turbulence worldwide, the results of this auction represent a positive outcome under the current market conditions. These results reaffirm the stability of demand for Gemfields’ rubies, with prices for fine quality aligning well with the limited supply of these rare and precious gemstones.

“Encouragingly, new entrants with well-developed supply chains placed successful bids in this auction, highlighting a positive outlook across the quality spectrum,” Gemfields product and sales MD Adrian Banks says.

“While we did observe some softer prices and thinner bidding, the average price per carat reached a record high for our mixed-quality ruby auctions, with the withdrawal of a lower-quality lot having only a limited effect,” he mentioned.

Meanwhile, mining operations in Mozambique remain unaffected by ongoing civil unrest following the contested election, Gemfields says.

“Mozambique poses a number of material operating challenges at present, including as a result of the contested election, the arising civil unrest and the associated supply chain and logistics interruptions.

“Gemfields’ priority remains the safety and security of our employees and contractors. We are grateful that, thus far, our mining operations have remained unaffected, and we praise our circa 1 600 colleagues in Mozambique for their ongoing efforts in this regard. We wish the country and its citizens peace and prosperity, and we are committed to making every effort within our means to further those goals,” Banks emphasises.