Gemfields Group (GEMGE.L) announced on Thursday that two police officers guarding its Montepuez ruby mine in northern Mozambique were killed after a group of illegal miners invaded the site earlier in the week.
According to the company, the incident occurred on Monday when “a group of approximately 40 illegal miners marched on the mine gate at Montepuez Ruby Mining.”
In a statement, Gemfields said, “They proceeded to attack Mozambican police officers present at the gate, killing two, one of whom was a commander of Mozambique’s Natural Resources Protection Force.”
The company confirmed that no Gemfields employees or contractors were injured in the attack and added that the situation at the mine has since remained calm, according to Reuters.
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Gemfields linked the attack to a violent confrontation that took place earlier that same day between district immigration authorities and suspected illegal immigrants in a nearby village, in which one person was reported dead.
The company also said that it has postponed the commissioning of its second processing plant at the Montepuez mine due to sabotage of plant supply infrastructure by illegal miners.
Consequently, Gemfields has rescheduled its regular November/December ruby auction to January/February 2026.
Operations at the Montepuez ruby mine were previously halted in October 2022 following an attack at a nearby mine that was attributed to insurgent activity.
However, Gemfields clarified that there is currently no evidence linking the latest incident to Mozambique’s Islamist insurgency, which began in 2017 and has since claimed thousands of lives while disrupting major natural gas and mining projects.
In addition to insurgent threats, authorities in Mozambique’s Cabo Delgado province continue to combat widespread illegal gemstone mining and smuggling activities carried out by unauthorized immigrants in the region.
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Image Credit: Cable News Network
