Mozambique: Gemfields rakes in 23.1 million dollars from ruby auction

For over a decade, Gemfields has been operating the Montepuez ruby deposit in Cabo Delgado province, northern Mozambique, one of the world's largest deposits of this gemstone. This resource-rich region (gas, rubies, graphite) has been marked since 2017 by an armed insurgency that has weakened several major investments, including that of TotalEnergies. It is against this backdrop that the London-based mining company continues its regular sales of rough stones. According to the Mozambican agency AIM (Agência de Informação de Moçambique), relayed by AllAfrica, Gemfields announced it generated 23.1 million dollars at an auction held from June 22 to June 29, 2026, covering mixed-quality rough rubies extracted from the Montepuez district. These revenues feed Mozambican taxation and support local employment in a province deemed to have security risks. For Gemfields, this result reinforces its model based on transparent auctions rather than private treaty contracts. The source does not specify the volume of carats sold, the average price per carat, or the comparison with previous auctions, details that would allow an assessment of an upward or downward trend in the ruby market. Also remaining open is the question of the distribution of benefits between the company, the State, and the communities of Cabo Delgado, where security stability conditions the sustainability of mining investments.