Gemfields to enter into mining of stones in India

Mumbai: London-headquartered Gemfields, a multi-national firm specialising in colour gemstones mining and marketing, plans to acquire colour gemstone mines in Odisha and Jharkhand, and participate in the exploration of the Kashmir sapphire mines in Jammu & Kashmir.

"For the past four months, a business-friendly wave has flown in India, whereby the new government has been initiating positive changes in the mining sector. Hopes have been revived for the mineral exploration sector in India. We are waiting for re-allocation of coal and iron ore mines, which will set the road map for the mining sector in India. Once the mining allocation dust settles down, we will begin talks with the respective state governments for colour gemstone mining leases," said Dev Shetty, chief operating officer.

According to the Geological Survey of India, total diamond resources in India are estimated at 3.31 million carat, and total reserves at 1.2 million carats. Total deposits of colour gemstones, however, are yet to be ascertained, for which Shetty called for authentic data from the government.

"While no confirmed data are available from the government, we await a favourable mining policy to take a final decision on investments and the potential of colour gemstones mining in India. We acquired a ruby mine in Mozambique about two years ago and have already conducted one auction, which fetched us $34 million. So, our cost of acquisition, exploration, operation and all others recovered from just one auction. We are looking for somewhat similar opportunity in India," said Shetty.

He says Jammu & Kashmir's sapphire mines currently produce negligible quantity. Similarly, the ruby mine in Odisha produces an insufficient quantity to make the operation viable. Hence, once the government puts a favourable policy in place, Gemfields will consider acquisition of the mines.

Gemfields currently conducts emerald auction of colour gemstones in India. Once planned to include in Jaipur (India) as one of the auction circuit venue, the world's largest processing hub of emeralds handling around 90 per of the global production, the company suspended its plan on a request from the government of Zambia, where large mines exist. The Zambian government urged to conduct the auction locally. Therefore, all mined emeralds auctions are currently being centralised in Zambia. Three successful auctions were conducted in Zambia the past one year with participation from India. The first ruby auction was held in June 2014 in Singapore, where Gemfields plans to conduct its future auctions.

"We will continue to support the colour gemstone sector through various marketing initiatives and see if there is an opportunity to launch a colour gemstone brand / collection," said Rupak Sen, regional marketing director (Asia).

Data compiled by the Gems and Jewellery Export Promotion Council showed India's import of gemstones has almost doubled to $317.4 million between April and September 2014, compared with $175.23 million in the corresponding period last year.

Disclaimer: This information has been collected through secondary research and IBEF is not responsible for any errors in the same.