Despite operation disruption in a COVID struck year, Gemfields owned Kagem was placed under care and maintenance with staff placed on leave with 80% remuneration. The Lufwanyama based emerald mine made a strong come back with a $31.4milion gemstone sale conducted between March 15 and April 17 of this year. Zambia’s emeralds, remain the best in the world competing with Brazilian stones have since one of the world’s largest pieces dubbed Inkhalamu and Insofu vernacular for lion and elephant remain aggressively demanded in Europe and Asia.
This emerald sale were presented for in-person and private viewings by clientele in Tel Aviv, Dubai and Jaipur which recorded a very strong appetite with 97% sales of the 37 lots offered whose price averaged $115.5 per carat. This compares to $93.2 per carat November and December 2020 sales which did not include finer qualities.
“This was Kagem’s highest auction revenue since March 2016 and we were very pleased to see such strong demand and pricing. Because operations were suspended at Kagem in March 2020, the world’s largest emerald mine produced no new emeralds for more than a year. Due to the arising supply and demand dynamics, a number of our clients have therefore seen this auction as a vital opportunity to purchase emeralds. Today’s result also means that Kagem has already surpassed the aggregate auction revenues achieved in the whole of 2020, which stood at just USD 22.4 million as a result of the fall-out from the Covid-19 pandemic.
Gemfields is excited to be back in business after the lengthy pause in both mining and sales and – as always – we extend our sincere thanks to our hard-working teams, to our host government in Zambia, and to our customers for their ongoing support,” Adrian Banks, Gemfields’ Managing Director of Product and Sales said.
Kagem is 75% owned by Gemfields, in a model partnership with the Zambian government that holds 25%. Kagem remains committed to paying its taxes and proceeds of the stone sale will be remitted to Zambia.
The Kwacha Arbitrageur
