Gemstone miner Gemfields reports that auction revenues and pricing for both emeralds and rubies remain strong, with the company having earned auction revenues of $242-million in 2023 – the second-highest year in Gemfields' history despite the withdrawal of November 2023's auction of higher-quality emeralds.
Gemfields' 75%-owned Kagem emerald mine, in Zambia, experienced a general improvement in both the quality and quantity of premium emeralds recovered in recent months, the company points out.
Emerald auction revenues for the year totalled $90.4-million.
The miner's 75%-owned Montepuez ruby mine, in Mozambique, meanwhile, earned $151.4-million for the year.
This took Gemfields' cumulative emerald and ruby auction sales since 2009 to $2-billion, while $400-million in taxes was paid to the governments of Mozambique and Zambia.
Gemfields is planning to hold a commercial-quality emerald auction in the first quarter of this year, which will be followed by a higher-quality and a mixed-quality ruby auction in the second quarter of the year.