The maiden auction of rubies from Gemfields ' (GEM) Montepuez mine in Mozambique exceeded expectations. The Singapore sale – a mix of premium and lesser quality stones – generated $33.5m (£19.7m) from a total of 55 bidders. In all, 1.82m carats were offloaded from a total offering of 2.03m carats at an average price of $18.43/carat.
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The success of the auction means that aggregate revenues from rough gemstone sales for Gemfields' June financial year will exceed $143m – a 195 per cent step-up from last year. Tellingly, the revenues generated were all but sufficient to cover the $34m cost of bringing Montepuez back into production since Gemfields acquired a 75 per cent stake in 2011.
