Mozambique : Mustang Resources boasts of 352,260 carats ruby inventory

Mustang Resources, the only listed ruby producer globally, increased its Montepuez ruby inventory to 352,260 carats up from 277,852 carats in September, it reported on 10 October.

The increase of inventory follows a new production record in the month of September as 27,131 carats were recovered from 47,160 tonnes processed. This has been achieved with consistent head feed grades of about 50 to 60 carats per 100 tonnes and the company said it retained a plant stockpile of 55,815 tonnes at 5 October 2017. Thence, the ASX-listed emerging gemstone developer and producer expects to take around double the 200,000 carats previously targeted for its maiden tender to be held 27-30 October 2017 in Port Louis, Mauritius.

According to the company, 42 leading global ruby buyers from Thailand, India, Sri Lanka, Hong Kong and Europe have officially registered to take part in the tender. They have even signed tender access agreements. In addition to the ruby buyers, representatives from the Mozambican Government have also been invited to attend the tender. With this, Mustang is ideally placed to take advantage of growth in the global ruby market at a time when rubies are the most valuable of the coloured gemstones after diamonds.

In the northern Mozambique, Mustang operates the Montepuez ruby project that consists of three licences and now one mining concession covering 19,300 hectares in the province of Cabo Delgado. In September, it reported the theft of low quality rubies of about 19,000 carats at the Montepuez mine, underscoring that none of the larger safes containing a limited number of higher-value rubies were broken into.