“As the need for ethical and sustainable mining operations for gemstones gathers momentum and compliance to best practices become increasingly necessary, it makes it a perfectly logical step to acquire assets in the mature geological and political geographies,” said Shetty, highlighting what he called a “well-established mining governance system” as a key feature that encouraged the firm to invest in Australia.
Fura is hopeful that its involvement could ignite something of a renaissance in the Australian sapphire sector, which boasts a proud history, headlined by the 733-carat Black Star of Queensland, worth around $6.5m in today’s money, but has struggled in recent years. The country’s share of global sapphire production has fallen to around 20%, according to Geoscience Australia, while the USGS reported that the country’s sapphire production collapsed from 13,000kg in 1995 to 4,800kg a decade later.
“The sapphire mining boom that began in the early 1970s with the introduction of mechanised operations faded later in two decades with changes in the supply chain with an increase in mining cost,” explained Shetty.
This decline has created a sapphire mining sector that has developed in a somewhat backwards fashion. Australia remains a relatively safe country to invest in, with an established and effective regulatory structure, but relatively little production within this framework. Legislation such as the 2004 Native Title Act, which ensures the voices of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are heard with regards to new mining projects, and the 2015 Foreign Acquisitions and Takeover Fees Impositions Act, which establishes regulations to cover foreign investment in Australian assets, have strengthened the image of Australia as a country welcoming to investors, and one with the potential to develop a strong sapphire trade.
“There is the potential to organise the sector and provide jewellers with the material to create lines which they were not able to before,” said Shetty, who remains optimistic about Australia’s potential. “Even a small percentage of the market would make it an attractive business proposition for investment and would enable the industry to establish a consistent supply of responsibly mined sapphires.”
The Capricorn mine in particular embodies this approach, as Fura looks to involve itself in a well-established economy. The miner aims to develop an existing asset rather than construct a new mine, which would involve all of the costs and risks associated with exploration, licensing and construction work, and Shetty highlighted the “proven resource and ongoing operations” of the Capricorn project as important components of this policy.