Gemfields says illegal miners killed two police guards at Mozambique mine

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(Reuters) -Gemfields Group said on Thursday a group of illegal miners had invaded its Montepuez ruby mine in northern Mozambique on Monday and killed two police officers guarding the site.

“A group of approximately 40 illegal miners marched on the mine gate at Montepuez Ruby Mining,” Gemfields said in a statement.

“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 added.

No company employees or contractors were injured in the attack and the site has since been calm, Gemfields added.

The attack has been linked to a violent confrontation, earlier that day, between district immigration authorities and suspected illegal immigrants in a local village, Gemfields said. One person was reported to have died in that clash, it added.

The company has delayed the commissioning of its second processing plant at the mine, saying hordes of illegal miners were sabotaging plant supply infrastructure.

As a result, Gemfields has had to defer its usual November/December ruby auction to January/February 2026.

Gemfields’ Montepuez mine halted operations in October 2022 after an attack at a nearby ruby mine attributed to insurgent activity.

No connection has been made between the latest attack and the Islamist insurgency, which broke out in 2017 and has claimed thousands of lives while disrupting multibillion-dollar natural gas and mining projects.

Apart from the insurgency, Mozambican authorities in the Cabo Delgado province are also battling the digging and smuggling of gemstones from the region by illegal immigrants.

(Reporting by Nelson Banya; editing by Philippa Fletcher)