World’s largest gem-quality ruby discovered in Mozambique

The world’s largest gem-quality ruby “Estrela de FURA” has been unveiled in Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates. The 101-carat stone was discovered in the northern Mozambican province of Cabo Delgado by Fura Gems, which states that “its vivid red hue, fluorescence, and clarity are extremely rare, making it intensely sought-after”.

                                              
According to Dr A. Peretti, the chief executive officer of the independent gem specialist company GRS GemResearch Swisslab, “I have finally come across the most consequential and promising gemstone ever tested in my career, a magnificent rough ruby of over 101 carats in size from Fura’s Mozambique mine.

This ruby shows characteristics normally encountered only in the classical Mogok mines of Burma. It possesses a fluorescence and vivid red colour and even excels in its excellent clarity. Estrela de FURA provides the potential to achieve the new world record of being the finest gem-quality ruby ever found with a size of over 50 carats once it goes through the final cutting process”.

This analysis is backed up by Daniel Nyfeler, the managing director of Gubelin Gem Lab, who considers that “the Estrela de FURA ruby is likely to yield an intense, saturated red colour once fully and properly faceted with adequate proportions”.

He added, “compared to most rubies, including those from Burma, which tend to be fairly included when reaching sizes above 5 carats, this ruby is relatively free of eye-visible inclusions. Considering its very large size, the vivid red colour, and clarity characteristics of this ruby give it an extraordinary potential to become one of the largest high-quality faceted rubies ever seen”.

Fura Gems took over nine ruby assets in Montepuez district in 2018 and has brought some of these into production. According to its chief executive, Dev Shetty, “with over two years of production, Fura has proven its ruby mine in Mozambique to be a world-class deposit. This discovery is an unprecedented occurrence and a moment of honour for us at Fura and for Mozambique. We pride ourselves on being a progressive and sustainable company, using the finest technology to set benchmarks in the coloured gemstone mining industry”.

He adds, “I would like to thank the Government of Mozambique for their support and my team for all the hard work to date”.

The ruby will be auctioned in October and could be sold for as much as US$100 million. Two per cent of the funds raised will be spent on setting up the Fura Training Academy to help communities in Cabo Delgado access education and technical training to provide livelihoods in mining, carpentry, engineering, and agriculture.

The headquarters of Fura Gems is in Toronto, Canada and its administrative headquarters is in Dubai.

(AIM)