Gemfields and World Land Trust auction raises £667,000 from ‘Emeralds for Elephants’ collection

Zambian-operating gemstone miner, Gemfields (LON:GEM) told investors that a piece of jewellery featuring a 678ct emerald, produced at its Kagem mine, was auctioned for £150,000, with a further eight pieces of emerald jewellery going for £517,000.  The sales were part of a charitable jewellery auction, held at Selfridges' ‘Wonder Room’, in aid of the World Land Trust and Wildlife Trust of India.

Upon launching the collection in April, Gemfields stated: “The aim of the collection is to create awareness of the plight of the Asian elephant and to bring attention to the World Land Trust’s ‘Indian Elephant Corridor’ project which is raising funds to save elephants in India”.

The collection was showcased in Selfridges Wonder Room during May and in mid-June, and the auction was carried out by Sotheby’s. A percentage of profits from each jewel will go towards the World Land Trust’s ‘Indian Elephant Corridor’ project.
According to Gemfields’, its mine-to-market capability guarantees the provenance of every gem, through a full disclosure and certification programme.

In Zambia, Gemfields’ 75%-owned Kagem mine has produced a total of 3.5 million carats of emerald and beryls, from 12,500 tonnes of ore, in the quarter to 31 March. Production for the nine months to 31 March amounted to 11.3 million carats with 42,000 tonnes mined with a grade of 269 cpt (carats per tonne).

In a recent auction, reported in April, Gemfields raised US$7.2 million to take the total revenues from 3 auctions in 9 months to US$18.7 million.