Miner Gemfields earned revenues of $11-million from a mini-auction of rough rubies from Montepuez Ruby Mining (MRM) held via online bidding after viewings in Bangkok, Thailand, from September 29 to October 3.

Twenty six of the 33 lots on offer were sold, while 62% of the 297 449 ct on offer were sold, at an average realised price of $59.43/ct.

“This mini-auction primarily featured medium and commercial grades of secondary material sourced from a recently developed mining area in the ‘Maninge Nice’ domain and where our processing activities have been concentrated in recent months.

“We are encouraged by both the results and the strong customer engagement, reflecting growing interest in this new material,” Gemfields product and sales MD Adrian Banks explains.

“Seven lots – mostly representing the smallest size ranges within the same lower-quality grade and offered for the first time at this auction – remained unsold. As this auction is part of the early market discovery process for new material, we will leverage the market feedback received to refine our future offerings,” he adds.

The gemstones were extracted in Mozambique by MRM, which is 75% owned by Gemfields and 25% by Mwiriti.

The proceeds of this auction will be fully repatriated to MRM in Mozambique, with all royalties due to the government being paid on the full sales prices achieved at the auction.

Meanwhile, Gemfields has made the decision to defer its usual November/December ruby auction to January/February 2026.

This is on account of the previously advised delay in the final commissioning of the second processing plant at MRM, now exacerbated by illegal miner action, the company explains.

While final commissioning is presently still expected in October, the new plant’s operation has been materially impacted during the last week by illegal miners, who presently number between 250 and 400 a day, sabotaging the plant supply infrastructure, Gemfields states. 

Moreover, it warns that the “illegally mined” rubies leaving the Montepuez region has a detrimental impact on market prices and on Mozambique's tax receipts from its ruby resources.

Gemfields and MRM continue to engage with the appropriate Mozambican governmental authorities on the illegal mining challenges.