UK-based coloured gemstone miner Gemfields reported that its latest high-quality emerald auction, which was held from 13 to 30 May in Thailand, fetched a total of $35 million.
The sale included five mini auctions via an online auction platform specifically adapted for the miner that permits customers from multiple jurisdictions to participate in a sealed-bid process. Gemfields offered 240,000 carats of higher quality rough emerald from Kagem in 46 lots. Lots were available for private, in-person viewings by customers in Bangkok prior to the sale. All but three of the 46 items found buyers, at a 93 percent sell-through rate and 87 percent sold by weight. The average price per carat reached at $167.51, which is on par with the record set in the previous May 2023 auction from Gemfields. The auction attracted bids from 60 companies across multiple jurisdictions.
Adrian Banks, Gemfields’ managing director of Product & Sales, said: “We are very pleased to report robust auction results despite slightly softer market conditions. Today’s result demonstrates that both demand and willingness to pay premium prices for fine-quality Zambian emeralds remain at healthy levels. The overall price per carat for the lots sold echoes the record figure achieved in Kagem’s preceding high quality auction of May 2023. It should however be noted that today’s figure has been skewed by the fact that two of the unsold lots were among the lower qualities offered at the auction.”
Auction proceeds will be fully repatriated to Kagem in Zambia, with all royalties owed to the Zambian government being paid on the full sales prices achieved at the auction, said Gemfields. The 48 auctions of Kagem gemstones held since July 2009 have generated more than $1 billion in revenue.
Gemfields’ next auction will be a mixed-quality ruby auction in June 2024 and the next commercial-quality emerald auction will be held in September 2024, according to Banks.
Gemfields owns the Kagem emerald mine in Zambia in partnership with the Industrial Development Corporation of Zambia. In 2023, the miner announced it had canceled its November 2023 auction of high-quality emeralds citing lower quality and quantity of emerald production at Kagem. Any high-quality emeralds would carry over to its 2024 auction, said Gemfields. (Photo courtesy: Gemfields)
13-06-2024
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