Image credit: Gemfields
Gemfields is set to auction a 187,775-carat cluster of emeralds discovered at its 75%-owned Kagem mine in Zambia in March 2020.
Viewing of the Kafubu Cluster commenced on 31 October and bidding will close on 17 November.
Gemfields said that given its size and quality, it is likely that the Kafubu Cluster will be the most expensive single emerald piece ever sold by the company.
“Rarity is one of the factors that make emeralds hold such a special value in many cultures around the world, but the combination of this crystal cluster formation, the overall quality and the sheer enormity of the Kafubu cluster is something I never thought possible,” said Kagem assistant sort house manager Jackson Mtonga.
The Kafubu Cluster was discovered in the Chama pit of the Kagem emerald mine, in Lufwanyama. Kafubu is a river which forms the natural boundary of Kagem in the southern part of the Kagem licence, and it is from this that the Kafubu Cluster takes its name – honouring the unique landscape in which it was formed.
Kagem is believed to be the world’s single largest producing emerald mine.
Mathew Nyaungwa, Editor in Chief of the African Bureau, Rough&Polished
