The Australian mining company Mustang Resources has announced that it has found another ruby deposit at its concession in Montepuez in the northern Mozambican province of Cabo Delgado.

The company is at an early stage of developing the mine and is currently taking small samples from various gravel deposits.

In July, the company announced its first discovery of ten rubies from its initial sampling programme. According to the Mustang, it has now found a further 19 rubies, bringing the total haul to 29 with a combined weight of 5.79 carats.

Once the mapping of the area’s geological makeup is complete, Mustang will move on to the bulk sampling programme. The sampling will involve processing material at a rate of 800 tonnes per day to get a better picture of the grade and gemstone size distribution of the deposits.

According to Mustang’s managing director, Christiaan Jordaan, “that our exploration team has recovered 29 high quality rubies to date is very encouraging, and further highlights the potential underlying value to be extracted from the Montepuez Project”.

The Montepuez Ruby Project consists of three licenses covering 15,800 hectares directly adjacent to the world’s largest ruby deposit which is mined by the London-based company Gemfields. So far, Gemfields has held six auctions of Montepuez rubies which have netted a total of 195 million US dollars.

Mustang Resources also has a majority interest in two diamond exploration licences along the Save River, in central Mozambique, downstream from the Murowa and Marange diamond fields in Zimbabwe. In addition, Mustang holds the rights to a graphite resource near the world class graphite deposits discovered by Syrah Resources and Triton Minerals.

Source: AllAfrica