Gemfields Achieves Triple Record at Emerald Auction

Gemfields recorded its highest auction revenue for emeralds from its Kagem mine in Zambia since it began selling in 2009, as demand strengthened.

The company achieved $43.7 million from the sale of 35 lots between May 15 and June 1, with all items on offer finding buyers, it said last week. The sales, which took place in Thailand, also scored two other records: highest average price and highest price per carat paid for a single auction lot.

“[Our] second auction of 2023 has yielded a positively surprising outcome,” noted Adrian Banks, managing director of Gemfields. “In our last auction of November 2022, we saw the market normalize appreciably when compared with the exuberance of the first half of 2022. We are delighted today to see the market rebound sharply once again, underpinning the step change in market pricing which we reported in 2022.”

Gemfields sold 264,000 carats of high-quality emeralds at an average price of $166 per carat. That compared to $77 per carat at the previous series of emerald auctions in October and November, when the miner sold the 37-kilogram Kafubu Cluster, which comprised 44% of the weight offered at the auction. The previous record average price was $156 per carat, which was set in May 2022.

Image: Emeralds from the Kagem mine. (Gemfields)