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Lusaka Emerald Auction Results
PALLINGHURST RESOURCES LIMITED
(Incorporated in Guernsey)
(Guernsey registration Number: 47656)
(South African external company registration number 2009/012636/10)
Share code on the BSX: PALLRES ISIN: GG00B27Y8Z93
Share code on the JSE: PGL
("Pallinghurst" or the "Company")
Lusaka Emerald Auction Results
Pallinghurst, which owns 100% of Gemfields Ltd (“Gemfields”), announces the results of an auction of higher
quality rough emeralds held in Lusaka, Zambia from 15 – 18 May 2018. The emeralds were extracted by Kagem
Mining Ltd in Zambia (“Kagem”, which is 75% owned by Gemfields and 25% by the Industrial Development
Corporation of Zambia). The proceeds of this auction will be fully repatriated to Kagem in Zambia, with all
royalties due to the Government of the Republic of Zambia being paid on the full sales prices achieved at the
auction.
Highlights – Emerald Auction
- Auction revenues of USD 10.3 million
- Average price of USD 59.55 per carat
- 56% of the carats offered were sold
- New record price per carat set for a single auction lot
- The 28 Kagem auctions held since July 2009 have generated USD 517 million in total revenues
The auction saw 31 companies placing bids and generating total revenues of USD 10.3 million with a robust
overall average price of USD 59.55 per carat. Of the 17 auction lots offered, 10 were sold.
An auction lot comprising 3 gems weighing 37.5 carats in total was won by H.C. Tank, setting an all-time price-
per-carat record for Gemfields emerald auctions.
Of the 17 lots on offer,, 9 lots featured the new “Provenance Proof” nano-particle technology developed by the
renowned Swiss gem laboratory, Gübelin, as first announced by Gübelin and Gemfields at BaselWorld in April
2017. The nano-particles tag the emeralds as having been mined at Kagem and allow identification of the mine-
of-origin for decades to come, providing unparalleled traceability for the gem sector.
Gemfields’s 28 auctions of emeralds and beryl mined at Kagem since July 2009 have generated USD 517 million
in total revenues.
The results of the five most recent higher quality Kagem auctions are summarised in the table below:
AUCTION RESULTS Sep ‘15 Apr ‘16 Feb ‘17 Oct ‘17 May ‘18
(HIGHER QUALITY) AUCTION AUCTION AUCTION AUCTION AUCTION
31 Aug-4 Sep 30 Mar-3 Apr 13-17 Feb 2-5 Oct 15-18 May
Dates 2015 2016 2017 2017 2018
Location Singapore Lusaka Lusaka Lusaka Lusaka
Type Higher Quality Higher Quality Higher Quality Higher Quality Higher Quality
Carats offered 0.60 million 0.56 million 0.42 million 0.32 million 0.31 million
Carats sold 0.59 million 0.47 million 0.35 million 0.32 million 0.17 million
No. of companies placing bids 37 33 33 36 31
Average no. of bids per lot 11 9 7 11 8
No. of lots offered 19 18 19 18 17
No. of lots sold 18 16 17 18 10
Percentage of lots sold 95% 89% 89% 100% 59%
Percentage of lots sold by weight 98% 84% 84% 100% 56%
Total sales realised at auction USD 34.7 million USD 33.1 million USD 22.3 million USD 21.5 million USD 10.3 million
Average per carat sales value USD 58.42/carat USD 70.68/carat USD 63.61/carat USD 66.21/carat USD 59.55/carat
The specific auction mix and quality composition of the lots offered at each auction vary in characteristics such
as size, colour and clarity on account of variations in mined production and market demand. Therefore the
results of each auction are not always directly comparable.
Sean Gilbertson, CEO of Pallinghurst and Gemfields, commented:
“Our Lusaka auction offered the smallest quantity of higher quality emeralds of any of our auctions to date and
saw only a little over half of the gems sold.
The bulk of our emerald customers hail from India, where the gemstone and jewellery sector is suffering from
the fallout of the Nirav Modi fraud. Given the ensuing losses sustained by Indian banks, access to finance has
become challenging for many companies in the Indian gem and jewellery industry.
With reduced funding available, our clients had to be much more selective about the auction lots they wished to
secure. Given our confidence in the value and high quality of the gems we offered, we naturally held back auction
lots that did not meet our reserve prices in order to aid market stability during the present period of turbulence.
As the auction’s average price per carat shows, there is clearly still good underlying demand and we congratulate
H.C. Tank, a sixth-generation gem firm from Jaipur in India on their purchase of lot #1, setting an all-time price-
per-carat record for any Gemfields emerald auction. We look forward immensely to seeing the resulting cut and
polished gemstones.
We are delighted that Zambian emeralds are the first gemstones in the world to deploy Gübelin’s “Provenance
Proof” nanotechnology, a remarkable breakthrough in emerald traceability. Of the 17 auction lots we offered for
sale, 9 featured the technology, with 5 of the 9 being sold: a clear indicator of the confidence already placed in
this breakthrough.”
Additional information on Gemfields
Gemfields is a world leading supplier of responsibly sourced coloured gemstones. Gemfields is the operator and
75% owner of both the Kagem emerald mine in Zambia (believed to be the world’s single largest producing
emerald mine) and the Montepuez ruby mine in Mozambique (one of the most significant recently discovered
ruby deposits in the world). In addition, Gemfields also holds controlling interests in various other gemstone
mining and prospecting licenses in Zambia, Mozambique, Ethiopia and Madagascar.
Gemfields’ outright ownership of Fabergé – an iconic and prestigious brand of exceptional heritage – enables
Gemfields to optimise the positioning, perception and consumer awareness of coloured gemstones, advancing
the wider group’s “mine and market” vision.
Gemfields has developed a proprietary grading system and a pioneering auction and trading platform to provide
a consistent supply of coloured gemstones to downstream markets, a key component of Gemfields’ business
model and has played an important role in the growth of the global coloured gemstone sector.
Further information on Gemfields and Pallinghurst can be found at www.gemfields.com and
www.pallinghurst.com.
Guernsey
21 May 2018
Sponsor
Investec Bank Limited
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