Maputo — The London-based mining company Gemfields has announced that it has earned, from 22 to 29 June 2026, 23.1 million US dollars from the auction of mixed-quality rough ruby mined in Montepuez district, in the northern Mozambican province of Cabo Delgado.
Gemfields owns 75 per cent of Montepuez Ruby Mining (MRM), the main ruby mining company in Mozambique.
According to a statement, this result marks the company's first "Trade Select" auction, featuring a broader mix of ruby qualities as well as newly introduced sapphire categories.
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The document points out that 82 of the 89 lots offered for sale were sold (92.1 percent); 374,008 carats were offered for sale with 348,409 carats sold (93.2 percent) and the average sales price was 66.30 dollars per carat.
"We are pleased with the outcome of our inaugural 'Trade Select' ruby auction. The Trade Select format was developed to sit between MRM's traditional Mixed-Quality ruby auctions and the smaller mini-auctions introduced during 2025. By bringing selected grades and categories together in a focused offering, the format provides greater flexibility in matching available production with market demand, whilst also broadening customer participation", said Adrian Banks, Gemfields' Managing Director of Product & Sales, cited in the document.
According to Banks, it was encouraging to receive positive feedback from customers regarding both the auction format and the composition of the offering and "whilst market conditions remain challenging in certain sectors of the coloured gemstone market, customer attendance was strong and bidding demonstrated continued demand across the categories offered."
"I would like to thank the MRM team in Mozambique for their considerable efforts in preparing and delivering this auction despite the many challenges they face. We now look forward to building on these results as preparations begin for MRM's next Mixed-Quality ruby auction, presently scheduled for October 2026", he said.
