May 2 - Precious stones miner Gemfields Plc reported a sharp fall in third-quarter production as unseasonably high rainfall in Zambia hurt output from its core Kagem mine.
Production fell about 45% to 3.6 million carats of emerald and bery for the quarter ended March 31.
Gemfields, which produces about a fifth of the world's rough emeralds, reported grade of 198 carats per tonne in the third quarter compared with 265 carats per tonne a year earlier.