PORT ELIZABETH – Zambia's minister of mines pledged support for the gemstone sector in Lusaka on Monday after he officially opened the 31st Gemfields auction of emeralds from the Kagem Mine in Lufwanyama.
“Our government remains committed to ensuring that we run and operate the mining sector with a stable, reliable, simple and predictable fiscal regime to support the industry. The government remains committed to engage the industry and hold discussions, and see the peculiarities so that we can always meet and resolve," Minister Richard Musukwa said.
"The Zambian government, together with Kagem, which is our flagship in terms of the emerald industry in Zambia remains committed to giving you high-quality products, and in so doing we would like to ensure there is transparency in the industry,” he said.
Musukwa, who also toured the auction, thanked the more than 30 buyers from around the world who had attended the event and assured them of the Zambian government’s continued support for the mining sector.
Gemfields is celebrating ten years of holding auctions of Zambian emeralds. At the current auction, 23 lots of over 800kg of commercial quality emeralds are on offer.
Results from the auction will be announced on Wednesday. The auction was also attended by officials from the Zambia Revenue Authority and Ministry of Mines.