Gemfields boosts output in Q3

Gemfields said its gemstone (emerald and beryl) production in the third quarter to March 2012 increased to 4.9 million carats from 3.5 million carats a year earlier.
The miner said that it reduced costs during the period, as unit production cost decreased to $0.85 per carat from $1.03 per carat a year earlier and $0.87 in the preceding three months.
Chief executive Ian Harebottle said demand for coloured gemstones was increasing across all markets.
“Gemfields' healthy cash position has supported the company's decision to actively pursue the development of other assets in its portfolio and to increase the scale of operations at its Kagem mine,” he said.
Meanwhile, Barclays Bank Zambia had agreed a $9.3 million debt facility that would part-finance the waste removal programme in the Chama section of Gemfields' 75 per cent owned Kagem mine.
Gemfields said while the stripping ratio would continue to increase in the near term as areas of overburden and wastes are mined, it expected an overall increase in operating efficiencies and performance in the medium to longer term as Kagem was able to mine both waste and ore more efficiently.

Mathew Nyaungwa, Editor in Chief of the African Bureau, Rough&Polished