Coloured gems specialist Gemfields (LON:GEM) achieved record revenues for lower quality stones at its recent emeralds auction in Jaipur, India.
Auction revenues clocked in at US$19.2mln, with a new record level for a designated lower quality auction of US$4.32 per carat.
Of the 5.07mln carats on offer, 4.45mln – 88% of the total – were sold.
A total of 29 companies placed bids in Gemfields' second auction of Kagem production in the current financial year. The auction marked the first auction of predominantly lower quality rough emerald outside of Zambia since June 2012.
The proceeds will be fully repatriated to the company's Kagem Mining subsidiary in Zambia, in which the Zambian government has a 25% stake.
In addition to the auction of gemstones mined by Gemfields at Kagem, the Jaipur event was also used to host a traded emerald auction of predominantly higher quality emeralds originating from Zambia and Brazil and obtained by Gemfields in the open market from various sources. The traded auction yielded additional gross revenue of US$1.1mln with 20,400 carats sold.
Gemfields' next auction is expected to take place in December 2015 in Singapore and, based on current market demand, is anticipated to be predominantly comprised of mixed lots of ruby and corundum from the Montepuez ruby deposit in Mozambique.
Shares in Gemfields rose 5.6% to 44.35p in early deals on Monday.