Two and half years after delisting from AIM, coloured gems miner Gemfields is set to rejoin the junior market in London.
The emeralds and ruby miner decamped in 2017 when it was taken over in a £212mln all-share deal by its major shareholder Pallinghurst, which subsequently changed its name to Gemfields Group Limited.
Since then, prices of the coloured gems have risen to record levels with Gemfields a key player in standardising grade quality and delivering consistent supplies from its Kagem emerald mine in Zambia and Montepuez ruby mine (MRM) in Mozambique.
Kagem is estimated to provide more than one-fifth of the world's emeralds with the monster-sized Lion Emerald, a 5,655-carat gem, unearthed at the site a couple of years ago.
MRM meanwhile accounts for half of the world's ruby supply.
Gemfields operates and has a controlling 75% interest in both mines while it also owns the Faberge brand and has a stake in platinum group Sedibelo.
The company is listed currently on the Johannesburg stock market and Sean Gilbertson, chief executive, said the AIM listing would provide Gemfields with access to much greater market liquidity, as well as a widening of the current investor base.
“The company's auctions in both rubies and emeralds during 2019 have clearly demonstrated robust demand and pricing and we continue to see increasing numbers of participating customers, further validating our pioneering auction and grading platform.”
In 2018, Gemfields posted revenues of US$206mln and underlying profits of US$58.9 mln.