Maputo, Oct. 21, 2024 (Lusa) - A disinformation campaign is prompting hundreds of illegal miners to flock to Mozambique's largest ruby mine in Cabo Delgado, the mining concessionaire, Montepuez Ruby Mining (MRM), warned on Monday.
In a statement, the company reports that it has learned of "a disinformation campaign circulating on social media and being promoted by ruby smuggling syndicates" that it said "falsely suggests that MRM has opened its mine to anyone for ruby extraction for 24 hours" in order to "promote disorder in MRM's concession and feed the syndicates with more rubies.
"This campaign is false," it states. "Everyone should avoid entering MRM's mining areas. The campaign of spreading false information is influencing the displacement of hundreds of people to the MRM concession."
The company added that "information is circulating that six people lost their lives" on Sunday in the MRM concession but that this "is also false" - although there were injuries.
"However, two people suffered gunshot wounds when the police reacted to an escalation of aggression," the statement says. "MRM has already alerted the authorities and additional police forces have been deployed to protect Mozambique's resources from the hands of smugglers who, among other things, entice young people from local communities to steal Mozambique's wealth and smuggle it abroad, depriving the country of much-needed revenue for its development."
MRM announced in August that it had exported 1.3 million carats of rubies in 2023, making it Mozambique's second largest exporter of the gems, and that plans a second plant in 2025.
"The rubies recovered at MRM are sold at auction, with the 2023 auction calendar yielding 151.3 million dollars [€135.9 million], all of which is fully repatriated to Mozambique to ensure fair payment of taxes," the company explained in a statement.
It added that MRM, which operates the mine in Cabo Delgado, "expects to increase production and export levels from the second half of 2025, following the successful commissioning" of the second processing plant.
"The new plant will triple the mineralised material treatment capacity, from 200 tonnes per hour to 600 tonnes per hour. With this investment, MRM hopes to increase its contribution to the Mozambican economy and generate more jobs," the company said.
MRM is 75% owned by Gemfields, which is based in the UK, and 25% by Mwiriti Limitada, a local company.
Since Gemfields acquired 75% of MRM in February 2012 - the month when mining began, with auctions of rubies from the mine beginning two years later - the unit has turned over more than $1.055 billion (€982.7 million), paying the Mozambican state $257.4 million (€239.7 million) in royalties and taxes over the same period, according to previous information from the company.
Last year, MRM paid the Mozambican state $53.2 million (€49.6 million).
MRM is a Mozambique-based company that operates in the Montepuez ruby deposit, located in the north-east of Mozambique, in the province of Cabo Delgado, covering approximately 33,600 hectares.
"It is believed to be the most significant ruby deposit recently discovered in the world," said the company, which guarantees that it has created more than 1,500 jobs locally, 95% of which are for Mozambicans, with 65% coming from Cabo Delgado.
PVJ/ARO // ARO.
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