KAGEM MINE HEADED FOR INCREASED EMERALD PRODUCTION

GEMFIELDS has announced a record more than 6.6 metric tonnes of emerald and beryl from its Zambian entity, KAGEM on the Copperbelt.

Company Chief Executive Officer, Ian Harebottlin has said this is after a conclusive inventory of its production stocks for the financial year ended June 30, 2011.

Mr Harebottlin has said this in a statement issued on the company website, which has cited reduced production costs as the reasons, which will bring efficiency.

He has since projected the company to be headed for more profitability.

Meanwhile, GEMFIELDS has realized a record 11 million dollars from the four-day auction of lower-quality emeralds and beryl it held last week in Jaipur, India.

The company reports that a total of 9.8 million carats of beryl from the company’s Kagem mine in Zambia were auctioned.

The average price for the goods increased 46 per cent to 1.12 dollars per carat.

An auction of mostly higher-quality emeralds is scheduled for March 2012.