The Canadian company Fura made official the acquisition of 76% of the issued and outstanding shares of Esmeracol, the holder of the contract at the Coscuez emerald mine (Boyacá). The contract has been awarded for an initial period of 30 years, ending in December 2020, with the possibility of an extension of up to three additional decades.

Fura will be in charge of the exploitation of a historically significant mine, having been in operation for more than 400 years and producing pieces that are recognized such as the 1,759-carat Guinness Emerald. Currently, this Boyacá mine is considered one of the three main producers of emeralds in Colombia, despite its lag in technology.

“Fura has just acquired 76% of the Coscuez Mine, at the end of March we will be in a position to know what our forecasts will be in terms of production,” the President and CEO of the company, Dev Shetty said.

According to Fura’s experience in Mozambique and Zambia with the exploitation of ruby deposits has allowed them “to take a handicraft production to a world-class one.” “We will be conducting a geological study in the coming weeks, we are going to invest in technology applying our highest standards of innovation, hand in hand with the community so that, the way of producing is on a large scale”. Fura also added that the objective is to be able to bring the local production of emeralds to the markets of Europe and Asia. For now, Fura rules out its participation in other exploitation contracts as it prefers to focus on Coscuez. When asked about the volume of emeralds that have been extracted so far from the Coscuez mine in Boyacá, the representative of Fura said that “it is not known because the traditional method in Colombia has not allowed to carry an amount.”

“However, the production reported to the market was 10 million carats in 2004 and decreased to 2.4 in 2016. Demand persists,” said Dev Shetty.

He also said that by providing technology and training the capacities of the collaborators who work in production, “these figures will triple.” “For now our task this year is to organize the expansion process. We are in the training phase of our staff and organization in the field ”, he added.

To seal this transaction, Fura paid Emporium US $2.50 million at the close of the transaction and issued 363,872 common shares. Fura now owns a 76% stake in Esmeracol and has assumed control of the management of the Coscuez mine.