【Nthoro, Cabo】In Northeastern Mozambique, Nthoro and the Curse of Rubies

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Editor’s Note

This article examines the stark reality of Nthoro, a Mozambican village whose discovery of rubies has brought not prosperity, but a cycle of conflict and displacement. It highlights the complex and often devastating human cost of resource extraction.

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A Village Transformed by Discovery

For a long time, Nthoro was just a poor but uneventful village in northeastern Mozambique. That changed nine years ago when a ruby deposit was discovered there. Since then, its inhabitants have lived under the constant threat of police and eviction. The precious stone has become the curse of the region.

The Arrival of Corporate Mining

These images are from February 2017. The company MRM, for “Montepuez Ruby Mine,” opened its doors to cameras. And proudly showed its facilities.
Until 2009, this region in northeastern Mozambique lived without knowing that its subsoil was rich in rubies. That’s when its destiny changed.
The British group Gemfields took control of MRM. And developed the activity.
From 2014 to 2017, the sale of these rubies earned it 240 million euros.

Corporate Perspective
“Mozambique had not realized it was sitting on such an extraordinary resource,” said Pia Gorham, Gemfield’s marketing director, in March 2017. “What we have enabled, and what we are helping Mozambique with, is to bring these rubies to the international market by giving them their true value, which in the long run helps the country and the population.”
The Harsh Reality for Nthoro

The small village of Nthoro, today. Still no running water, nor electricity. No school either. The life of its approximately 2000 inhabitants is even harder than before the discovery of the precious rubies.

“Life was good here before, people had farms, they could cultivate the land and sell their harvest, have a little money,” explains this resident of Nthoro anonymously. “Now we are starving.”
Land Rights and Broken Promises

Because Nthoro is located on the concession granted by the Mozambican state to MRM.
The inhabitants therefore no longer have the right to build houses or cultivate their land, for years… as this sign reminds them.
MRM is supposed to relocate them.

“There is a slight delay in the construction of houses to relocate people, but we are confident, it will be done,” wants to believe Fabião Namiva, a member of the district government. “There are already things that have been done thanks to the contract we have with MRM.”
Allegations of Violence and Legal Action

Even more serious, many residents accuse the security agents employed by the company and the local police of violence. Targeted in particular are the informal miners who try, illegally, to take their share of the cake.
In April, about a hundred residents of Nthoro took legal action in London. And filed a complaint, collectively, accusing Gemfields of murders, beatings and injuries, arbitrary detentions, or sexual abuses.

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⏰ Published on: September 17, 2018