Gemfields’s net loss is likely to widen to $73.5 million for the first half of 2026, due to an impairment charge of $125.2 million on its Montepuez ruby mine in Mozambique.
A drop in the recovery of high-quality rubies led to the asset downgrade, the miner said last week. The miner reported a loss of $20.5 million in the first half of 2025.
“The first half of 2026 was a challenging period…, driven by lower-than-expected premium ruby recoveries at Montepuez, which had a significant impact on the group’s financial performance,” David Lovett, Gemfields’ interim CEO, explained.
Meanwhile, the company posted revenue of $102.8 million – $76.1 million from Montepuez and $26.7 million from its Kagem emerald mine in Zambia. That compares to $60 million during the same period the previous year. The higher revenue this year reflects the deferral of a mixed-quality ruby auction from December 2025 to February 2026, which reduced the comparability of the respective periods, Gemfields observed.
The miner still hopes it will see an improvement in the second half.
“Recent ruby recoveries have shown early signs of improvement,” Gemfields said. “Kagem, meanwhile, delivered solid operational performance and good premium emerald recoveries during the period. Our priority for the remainder of 2026 is to demonstrate that the recent improvements at Montepuez can be sustained, while maintaining financial discipline and flexibility across the group.”
Gemfields will release its full results for the first six months of the year on September 30, it added.
Image: Polished rubies. (Gemfields)
