Gemstone miner, Gemfield plc released its production update for the quarter ended March 31, 2015, reporting strong increases in production of emeralds and beryl, as well as a rise in production of rubies and corundum at the Kagem mine in Zambia and Montepuez mine in Mozambique respectively.

The company has a 75% share in both Kagem Mining Limited and Montepuez Ruby Mining Limitada.

During the quarter, production at Kagem was 9.9 million carats of emerald and beryl compared to 3.6 mn cts, a year earlier, with a 79% increase in average grade from 198 to 355 carats per tonne. Operating costs were up from US$ 6.6 mn to US$ 9.9 mn, largely on account of the increased scale of mining activity, the company said.

On April 9, Zambia’s Deputy Minister of Mines, Richard Musukwa inaugurated the Kagem Minerals Purchasing Office in Kitwe, Zambia, at which Kagem will purchase rough emerald and beryl in the local market.

At Montepuez, production of rubies and corundum rose from 1.1 mn cts in Jan-March 2014 to 1.4 mn cts in the same period this year, with the average grade dropping from 38 to 18 cts per tonne due to the largely alluvial and higher quality nature of the particular areas mined during the quarter.

Operating costs rose to US$ 4.6 million as against US$ 2.4 million in the quarter ending 31 March 2014, due to the increase in the scale of processing activity and changes to the accounting treatment from 1 July 2014, the company said.

Fabergé Ltd, wholly owned by Gemfields, saw an increase of 64% in the value of sales orders agreed in the first three months of 2015 when compared to the same period last year.

Ian Harebottle, CEO of Gemfields, commented: “We have achieved considerable increases in production volumes at both the Kagem and Montepuez mining operations, underpinned by constant growth in market demand for these products.”

Gemfields’ next auction of traded rough emerald (i.e. not obtained directly from the Company’s own mining operations) is scheduled to take place in Jaipur this month alongside an auction of ruby and corundum from the Montepuez ruby deposit in Mozambique.