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Thai gem company buys Gemfields’ matching rubies
Gemstone wholesaler Veerasak Gems purchased the 45-carat pair for an undisclosed sum and dubbed them the “Eyes of the Dragon.”
The gemstones, recently unearthed at Gemfields’ Montepuez mine in Mozambique, are a vivid red color and of exceptional clarity, the mining company said.
The pair has been dubbed the “Eyes of the Dragon” by Veerasak’s founders, who have 35 years of experience with colored stones, particularly rubies.
Because of the sale, Montepuez Ruby Mining Limitada now will provide support to the Niassa Carnivore Project, which works to conserve lions and other large carnivores in Mozambique’s Niassa National Reserve.
The stones were the highlight of Gemfields’ most recent ruby auction, which was held from June 16 to 21 in Singapore and featured higher-quality material. It totaled $29.3 million and saw an average per-carat price of $617.
The sale was only 66 percent sold by volume and 87 percent sold by value, which Gemfields said indicates that, “there are further opportunities to educate the market on the company’s products in order for the market to fully appreciate the rarity and value of all the gems from Montepuez.”
The four auctions held since June 2014 featuring rubies mined from Montepuez have generated $122.2 million in total revenue.
The next auction will be of predominantly higher-quality emerald from the Kagem mine in Zambia, currently slated to take place in August.
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