Ruby production in Mozambique surged last year to nearly 4 million carats, up 46 percent from 2023, reports the Portuguese news agency Lusa.
The government surpassed its 2024 target of 3,080,895 carats in nine months, hitting 3,145,391 carats by the end of the third quarter despite severe production shortages and plummeting export values in the first quarter. Production began to soar in the second quarter, accounting for more than half of the target, whereas the first quarter only achieved 8 percent. Strong showings in the third and fourth quarter followed, pushing total production for the year to 3,946,506 carats.
While equipment issues at Montepuez Ruby Mining (MRM) and military instability were cited as causing the earlier shortfalls, government documents largely credit SLR Mining, which accounted for over 70 percent of rubies produced, for the recovery. They also point to “the full recovery of production” by Moza Minerals and MRM carrying out “intensive excavation in three additional highly productive blocks” as contributing factors.
Ruby production has been declining in Mozambique in recent years, from 5 million carats in 2021, to 4.2 million in 2022, to just 2.7 million in 2023.
[See more: Mozambican ruby mine tops US$1 billion in total revenues]
Mozambique is one of the main producers of rubies in the world, along with Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam. Ruby mining is relatively new in the country, beginning in the 1990s, although rubies had been detected as far back as the 1500s. Montepuez Ruby Mine formed in 2011 to exploit the Montepuez ruby deposit, discovered in 2009, and quickly became the world’s largest supplier of rubies, kicking off industrial ruby mining in Mozambique.
MRM lost its crown to SLR Mining last year, according to government documents reviewed by Lusa, which credited SLR’s leap to the commissioning of an additional processing plant. SLR Mining was acquired by Fura Gems in 2020, as part of an effort by the United Arab Emirates’ company to consolidate its position in Mozambique after entering the market in 2017 and acquiring more than a dozen mining licenses.
MRM may retake its top spot this year, as Gemfields, which holds a 75-percent stake in the mining company, expects to open a second processing plant that will increase production and deliver additional revenue by the end of 2025.
According to previous statements by the company, the new facility would triple production capacity, from the current 200 tonnes per hour to 600 tonnes. It also noted this will add new jobs and create greater revenue for the state. Since it began auctioning rubies in 2014, MRM has contributed US$257.4 million to state coffers. In 2023, the company paid US$53.2 million in royalties and taxes, and employed around 700 workers and contractors.
