Fura Gems expands Mozambique operations with nine new ruby licences
A Canadian miner of gemstone and rubies in Colombia and Mozambique has acquired full interest in nine new assets across Mozambique.
Fura Gems announced in a statement this week that it had entered into a merger of ruby assets agreements, in which Fura will control interests in nine ruby licences in the Montepuez District of Cabo Delgado province in Mozambique.
The company will acquire the ruby assets from Mustang Resources and Regious Resources in a total consideration of A$15 million which will be payable in A$3 million cash and around 12.7 million Fura shares.
Upon completion of the transaction, Fura Gems will hold the largest ruby land package in Mozambique at 1,104 sq. km.
“I am pleased to announce the merger of these ruby assets with those of our existing licenses in Mozambique transforming Fura into the largest ruby group by licence area in the country. Our team has in-depth experience in the Mozambique ruby sector having previously worked in Mozambique since 2011 where they were instrumental in discovering and developing what is largely considered the world’s largest ruby deposit,” said Dev Shetty, Fura’s President and CEO.
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“Based on our extensive work in-country, we believe these combined licenses to be some of the highest quality ruby licenses available in Mozambique.
The initial ground work has already been done by Mustang and Regius, which includes significant exploration and the construction of two wash-plants. Following completion of the Acquisition, we plan to commence a significant bulk sampling project within these licenses in the next few months with the mid-term objective of creating another world class, cash generative ruby mine to complement our iconic Coscuez emerald mine in Colombia.”
Over the next three years, Fura intends to invest up to $25 million through a programme of drilling, bulk sampling and production mining on the properties.
