Gemfields announces rough emerald and beryl auction results
LONDON, August 2014 – Gemfields plc has announced the results of its auction of predominantly lower quality rough emerald and beryl held in Lusaka, Zambia from 5 to 8 August 2014.
Highlights
• Auction revenues of USD 15.5 million, the second highest achieved at any lower quality auction;
• Excluding the sale of 1.5 tonnes of low grade beryl, the average realised price was USD 3.61 per carat, a new record for lower quality auctions (no beryl was sold in the prior three lower quality auctions);
• Overall realised price of USD 1.34 per carat including the sale of low grade beryl;
• Of the 12.1 million carats offered, 11.6 million carats were sold;
• Sixteen Kagem auctions held since July 2009 have generated USD 276 million in total revenues.
A total of 21 companies attended and bid in what was the first Gemfields auction during the current financial year (ending 30 June 2015). The auction was the fifth to be held in Lusaka since April 2013.
The auction saw 12.1 million carats of emerald and beryl extracted from Kagem placed on offer, with 17 of the 21 lots offered being sold, generating auction revenues of USD 15.5 million.
The auction realised an overall average value of USD 1.34 per carat including the sale of 1.5 tonnes of low grade beryl, or an average unit price of USD 3.61 per carat for comparable lower quality auctions and a 9% increase on the USD 3.32 per carat achieved at the most recent lower quality auction in November 2013.
The Company’s 16 auctions of emeralds and beryl mined at Kagem since July 2009 have generated USD 276 million in aggregate revenues.
Gemfields’ next auction of emeralds is presently scheduled to take place before 31 December 2014.
Ian Harebottle, CEO of Gemfields, said:
“Gemfields has now completed five successful auctions in Zambia, all during the last 17 months.
“We were pleased to see a significant quantity of our low grade beryl sold at this auction, something we have not seen at auction since
November 2011.
“Excluding the effect of this material, we set a new record unit price of USD 3.61 per carat for our lower quality auctions, underlining yet again how robust demand remains for our Zambian emeralds.”
