Published at 8th May 2018
Modified at 2nd Aug 2023
Australian Sapphire Prices Are Set To Boom
Australia has had a reputation for top quality Sapphires for a long time. Sir Lankan and Kashmir Sapphires take the prestigious top place for their beautiful quality sapphires but Australian Sapphires have been popular to those in the know because of their deep blue colours and general good quality.Australian Sapphire Prices Are Set To Boom.
On Gem Rock Auctions we follow trends in the market place and analyse what outside forces will effect price of a gemstone. As of today there are three major influences that indicate Australian Sapphire Prices Are Set To Boom.
Stock supply
Chinese Demand
Richland Resources
Stock Supply
Australian supply of sapphires is small compared to many international gemstones. Many Australian mines have closed down since 1990 when more treated gems were marketed in Asia. The Australia Sapphire could not compete against the price of these treated stones.
Today many investors realize that natural untreated sapphires have increased considerably in price. This is shown by the strong and steady demand for top natural sapphires
Sapphire mines in Madagascar, who supply the majority of the worlds Sapphires, until 10 years ago have been exhausted and old stocks have already been sold. Production of Sapphire in this region is now limited
Sir Lanka has also not increased production and Gem guide tracking shows prices have increased 20-30% per annum since 2011.
Kashmir blue sapphires have already increased 100% in price due to low availability of this deep blue sapphire.
We are now at a cross roads where demand overtakes production. No large sapphire mines have been started and all countries including Brazil now have high environmental studies to complete before production. With current requirements it can take up to 5 years to bring new mine into production.
Chinese Demand
This new emerging market does appreciate deep blue Sapphires and could greatly increase price of Australian blue sapphires.Chinese buyers have steadily increased since 2011. Originally they purchased yellow and parti sapphires but now they prefer deep blue colours.
In 2015 Chinese buyers were strong but they have slowed down recently with strong Anti Corruption Policies being rolled out in China. This has lead to many rich Chinese having stopped or slowed down buying expensive items.
Some Chinese gemstone online sites have reported average sale have dropped from US$1000 to US$300 per gemstone.
However with hundreds of millions of middle class now emerging from the farming sector it is obvious that demand pressures will build up rapidly for sapphires.
Richland Resources
This Public company has bought a Sapphire mine in Australia. It is called the Capricorn Sapphire mine.This company has an aggressive record in mining and marketing Tanzanite Gemstones in Tanzania. They were the sole owners of Tanzanite one, the biggest Tanzanite mine in Tanzania. They were also responsible for creating the color grading of Tanzanite which is still used world wide to describe the color of this beautiful gemstone.
Richland Resources have reported that they have sold their Tanzanite interest for US$5.1 Million dollars.The company is cashed up and has big plans to market Australian Sapphires under its branding Capricorn Sapphires.
Some of the largest mining equipment in the Southern Hemisphere will be used to shift massive quantities of dirt.This will be the first time a company will brand and market Australian Sapphires and offer its own certificates that show how the stone are ethically sourced.
The good news is we only see an upside in Australian Sapphires.Australian Sapphire Prices Are Set To Boom once this new power house in gemstones begins to market these beautiful Sapphires.
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