Hope for Gemfields as emerald duty “may be revoked”

GEMFIELDS Group said it could resume exports of emeralds from Zambia as a duty on gemstones re-imposed by the southern African country in January “may be revoked”.Commenting in an operational update on Friday, the London- and Johannesburg-listed firm also said production had resumed at Montepuez, a ruby mine in Mozambique. In December, the mine was partly evaculated amid post-election protests.Said Sean Gilbertson, CEO of Gemfields: “Emerald exports are, since 1 January 2025, paused while Zambia’s reintroduced 15% export duty remains in place.“Kagem anticipates that the duty may be revoked and allow a commercial-quality emerald auction to go ahead in Q1 2025.”Prior to the reintroduction of the export duty, Gemfields decided to suspend production at Kagem as the emeralds market was flooded with heavily discounted goods.The export duty, which was last in effect in 2019 prior to an industry outcry, was reimposed by a government department in late December and applied days later in the new year without consultation with the sector.Gilbertson, who was hoping to meet with government officials, said parliamentary oversight of the duty was not required as it had been previously introduced prior to its suspension.Difficult market conditions for emeralds and the duty will constrain Gemfields’ finances. Already, some of its staff were on paid leave which could be converted to retrenchments, said Gilbertson earlier this month.“The reality is that if we are not able to get the 15% duty dealt with soon, we will regrettably have to make a number of redundancies to shield the survival of the business,” says Gilbertson. Kagem comprised 40% of its $128m in revenue for the six months ended June, the last reported period.Total taxation is 51% when the royalty and the export levy are added to Zambia’s corporation tax (30%). Emerald producers Brazil and Colombia levy aggregate taxes of 2% and 2.5% respectively, before corporation tax. The post Hope for Gemfields as emerald duty “may be revoked” appeared first on Miningmx.Weiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Mining.com Weiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Mining.com