Surge in Gemfields' production

Gemstones miner Gemfields has achieved record production in the three months to September 2010 but chief executive Ian Harebottle warns that production levels will decline. First quarter production of 12.8m carats of emerald and beryl is equivalent to three-quarters of production in 2009-10. Emerald production exceeded the whole of the previous year. Production costs fell 73 cents per carat to 26 cents per carat. Mining costs are likely to rise because the distribution of gemstones is not uniform. There is still illegal mining at the Kagem mine. The next auction of higher grade rough emerald is from 6-10 December. Gemfields had $4.8m in cash at the end of September 2010. Gemfields' 75%-owned subsidiary Kagem Mining has loans of $1.2m, which are repayable at the end of 2010. Gemfields Grou.