Gemfields Unearths 7,525ct. Emerald

RAPAPORT… Gemfields has recovered a 7,525-carat emerald from its Kagem mine, the largest in the Zambian deposit’s history.

The miner named the stone Chipembele, meaning rhinoceros in the local dialect of Bemba, Gemfields said Monday. Geologist Manas Banerjee and veteran miner Richard Kapeta and his team unearthed it on July 13.

The name comes from the words Kapeta used when he spotted the emerald, Gemfields explained. At first, everyone was “speechless,” the company said; then Kapeta shouted, “Look at this rhino horn!”

The find follows the 2018 discovery of Inkalamu, which translates as lion in Bemba. Kapeta also retrieved that stone, which weighed 5,655 carats. In 2010, the company recovered the 6,225-carat Insofu, also known as the elephant emerald.

Gemfields will sell Chipembele at its next emerald auction, with viewings of the stone scheduled for this month. The miner will offer the winning bidder the option of having the stone placed through Gübelin Gem Lab’s traceability program, Provenance Proof, which will ensure all cut and polished stones derived from the emerald remain identifiable, Gemfields added.

The company will donate a share of the proceeds from Chipembele to support the North Luangwa Conservation Programme in Zambia, which works to preserve the area’s black rhinoceroses.

Image: The Chipembele emerald. (Gemfields)