I have posted this on another thread, but it is relevant here. I have transcribed what CJ actually said, because he is sometimes quoted out of context. QUESTION: Gemfields realised $61/ct at its auction. Why so low and what does Mustang expect for its auction? ANSWER: So the recent auction by Gemfields gave them $61/ct, but they also stated that it's for mixed qualities, so for the last three or four auctions they've done, they've gone the way of mixed qualities, which means they offer relatively significant quantities of commercial low quality rubies together with medium and then high quality rubies, so rubies from their primary deposits that they continue to exploit significant volumes of, and then rubies from secondary deposits. So its very difficult to ascertain value for value, except in three auctions that they've held, those auctions were $317, $620 and $680/ct for medium and high quality rubies. And medium and high quality rubies almost exclusively come from secondary deposits, as primary deposits only yield, according to SRK data, only about 1% high quality or gem quality rubies. So as a long-winded answer as to what we expect at our auction, anything north of $61/ct would be a fantastic result for us - even $61/ct would be a fantastic first result for us - but I think that's erring on the side of caution and you can already see that quality is the key thing, and because we're focussing on the secondary deposits, we've already proven that we yield and we deliver high quality rubies, and we've - just to mention here - imported, just in the last month or two, our own rough grading and sorting system. That all bodes well for our auction in October, and one can reasonably expect anywhere north of $100/ct. Again, proof of the pudding is in the eating.
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