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No. 7 - January 2007

GEMSTONESof GREENLANDGEMSTONESof GREENLAND

Renewed focus on Greenland gem-stones has been experienced sincethe turn of the century.

Two gemstone companies havedemonstrated solid and continuedinterest in the potential of classicalgemstones in Greenland in this peri-od. Diamonds and rubies are defi-nitely now in focus with the size ofdiamonds growing almost with everynew exploration event. The largestdiamond to date has just been report-ed at 0.122 carats.

Rubies and pink sapphires are nowat hand with large, high-quality stonesin faceting as well as in carving types.Exploration activity targeted at bothcommodities may be approaching thenext stage, with pre-feasibility studiesand production considerations. Anumber of other species of colouredgemstones and generally lower-priced semi-precious gem materialhave also been found, and these areoften very much in demand locally aswell as internationally. Well-knownexamples are kornerupine, tugtupite,lazurite and amazonite. Several multi-coloured rock types have been pro-duced on a small scale locally for manyyears and have gained high popularityamong tourists and collectors, withthe famous nuummite, greenlanditeand ‘ice blue’ chalcedony being themost favoured.

A number of additional classical colouredgemstones such as beryl, cordierite, peri-dote, tourmaline, garnet, spinel and topazare known from scattered occurrences,but their potential has never been tested.The variety in the Greenland geologicalenvironment, not least the pegmatiteoccurrence, is definite justification for moresystematic exploration for such stones.

Exploration

Diamonds are well-known from the 600 Maold North Atlantic province of carbonatitesand ultramafic alkaline magmatism insouthern West Greenland, which has beena target for commercial exploration sincethe mid-1990s. So far this has resulted innumerous finds of ultramafic lamprophyreand kimberlite dykes and micro/macro dia-monds have been recovered from many ofthese rocks. All work by active companiesis still at the exploration stage.

On 24 October 2006 Hudson ResourcesInc. announced the diamond results of the2006 exploration drill core program. Thehighlight was the recovery of 35 diamonds,including the largest diamond ever foundin Greenland. A sample of a 14.6 kg coresample taken from a 4.5 m kimberliteintercept in the Garnet Lake dyke in theSarfartoq area yielded the largest stoneweighing 0.122 carats.

The Geological Survey of Denmark andGreenland (GEUS) recently published anew digital compilation of all the diamond

exploration data gathered to date. Thiscompilation is the common knowledge basefor diamond exploration in West Green-land. The compilation (on DVD) contains:• 164 scanned reports in Adobe PDF

documents from company reports sub-mitted to the Bureau of Minerals andPetroleum. There are approximately 96150 mineral analyses from 15 295samples of till or stream sediment cov-ering 4563 localities.

• 2780 mineral analyses representing 31kimberlitic rock samples.

• 560 classification diagrams on whichanalysed kimberlite indicator mineralgrains have been classified and plotted.All mineral chemistry data have beenexamined.

• All available geophysical maps. Thesehave been scanned in large format, andare presented in Adobe PDF documents.

• Approx. 2700 observations of kimber-litic rocks.

• Topographic data at 1:100 000 scalefor the regions of diamond explorationas at 2004.

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Sisimiut

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Kangerlussuaq

QaqqaarsukTupertalik

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Kimberlitic occurrence

Diamond occurrence

Southern boundary ofPalaeoproterozoic deformation

65°N

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Greenland

Diamond occurrences insouthern WestGreenland .

Colourless and pinkish diamonds fromGarnet Lake.

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Gemstones of greenland

Diamonds

Potential

The Greenland diamond potential is con-centrated in swarms of ultramafic dykes inthe Sisimiut–Sarfartoq–Maniitsoq region insouthern West Greenland. Fieldwork in2006 resulted in the recognition of muchlarger kimberlite dyke systems in theManiitsoq area than had previously beenreported. The Majuagaa dyke in this areais a diamond-bearing and phlogopite-poorultramafic dyke, which is considered anarchetypical kimberlite. The number andsize of finds combined with the knowl-edge of existence of true kimberlites sup-ports expectations of a reasonable poten-tial for diamonds in the province.

In the Sarfartoq area the 2006 resultsillustrate the highly diamondiferous natureand coarse diamond distribution of thekimberlite dyke at Garnet Lake in theSarfartoq area. To date, a total of 357kgof kimberlite from the Garnet Lake dykehas yielded nine commercial-sized stones

(+0.85mm) totalling 0.31 carats or a nomi-nal 0.87 carats/tonne. Similarly, the drillingresults confirm the Garnet Lake dyke asbeing a significantly diamondiferous body,which can be followed over a strike lengthof 900 m, with 450 m down-dip.

Many of the kimberlite localities in theManiitsoq area contain abundant dia-mond-favourable peridotitic and eclogiticgarnets, along with diamond-favourablechromites and clinopyroxenes. Mineralchemistry data for these occurrences,along with several occurrences in theSarfartoq area, became available onlyrecently, and it is now possible to addressthe provenance of the indicator mineralsfrom till and stream sediment.

In the field area just east of Maniitsoq,around the mountain Sillissannguit, newdykes with a combined length of morethan 10 km were found in 2006, and inanother area, Timitta Tasersua East nearthe coast, a system of what is believed tobe one of the largest kimberlite dyke

exposures known in Greenland was foundin a steep gully above a stream withnumerous large boulders of kimberlite.Most of the dyke systems in the Maniitsoqarea are expected to be archetypical kim-berlites.

Quality

Quality evaluation of the huge amount(more than 1000) of micro and macro dia-monds recovered to date from Greenlandis scarce. However, the quality of the dia-monds recovered from the Garnet Lakearea at Sarfartoq has undergone prelimi-nary evaluation by the Hudson Resourcescompany. The recovered stones typicallyhave good colour (colourless to pink) andshape (octahedron). The pink diamondsare always of interest to the gem industry,as noted by the company at the presenta-tion.

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The Majuagaa kimberlite dyke in the Maniitsoq area.

Exploration

The first rubies were discovered in the WestGreenland region of Fiskenæsset/Qeqer-tarsuatsiaat in 1966 on a small island, sub-sequently named Ruby Island. In the late1970s and early 1980s Greenland rubiescaught commercial interest. Prospecting ofruby-bearing zones, mapping and bulksampling was carried out by the Canadianexploration company Platinomino A/S.Shortly after the turn of the century theGreenland rubies captured renewed com-mercial interest from Brereton Engineering& Developments Ltd. with True NorthGems Inc. as operator.

Detailed exploration for rubies wasconducted by Platinomino A/S in the 1980s.Detailed mapping of the Siggartartulikzone was made and prospective zones inthat area were scrutinised. As a result ofthis, several new ruby-bearing zones were

discovered. However, only limited furtherwork was done within the concession andthe activity ceased after a couple of years.

In 2004 True North Gems Inc. obtainedan exclusive exploration licence of a 3600km2 area and commenced prospecting inthe area. In 2005 True North collected 3tonnes of mini bulk samples at five differ-ent localities. The ruby ore was processedat various laboratories in Canada, the UKand Germany. The rubies were sorted intothree quality classes: gem (transparent andsemitransparent), near-gem (translucent andsemi-translucent) and non-gem (opaque).Another ruby showing at Aappaluttoqyielded 533 grams of gem including a 20-gram single stone, all derived from a 100-kilo outcrop sample.

In 2006 True North concentrated theirefforts on the two most promising rubylocalities discovered to date: Aappaluttoqand Kigutilik. A 30-tonne bulk sample was

collected from each of the two sites. Muchof the sampling was carried out by dia-mond-tipped chain saws and sampleswere flown to Fiskenæsset, where a smallprocessing plant was established. The rockswere gently crushed and the heavy miner-als were separated. The ruby concentrateswere hand-picked for the largest, bestquality rubies.

Prospecting of the area surroundingAappaluttoq led to the discovery of a bandof multiple ruby-bearing horizons, extend-ing for 2 km from the historic locality ofRuby Island to Aappaluttoq. This regionwill be the focus of planned diamonddrilling in the future.

Geological environment

The Fiskenæsset region is dominated byextensive gneiss tracts with enclaves ofgreenstone belts. A large, layered anortho-

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IvnaarssuunguaqIvnaarssuunguaq

Qaqat AquleritQaqat Aqulerit

QaqqatsiaqQaqqatsiaqTukTuk

Ivnaarssuunguaq

Kaadaaq Northwest Annertusoq

Upper Annertusoq East Extension

Upper Annertusoq

Lichtenfels

Lower Annertusoq

Kigutilik

PupiqAltiplano 001

Siggartartulik

Laks ElvNugussup Qavat

Puilassut Qavat

Rejane's OccurrenceSarfaq

Aappaluttoq

RidgetopMikisoq

Tassiusa GateTasiusarsuaq Waterline

Ruby Island (Tasiusarsuaq)

Sungasa Nuat

Kaadaaq Northwest Annertusoq

Upper Annertusoq East Extension

Upper Annertusoq

Lichtenfels

Lower Annertusoq

KigutilikKangarssukKangarssuk

PupiqAltiplano 001

Siggartartulik

Laks ElvNugussup Qavat

Puilassut Qavat

Rejane's OccurrenceSarfaq

Aappaluttoq

RidgetopMikisoq

Tassiusa GateTasiusarsuaq Waterline

Ruby Island (Tasiusarsuaq)

Qaqat Aqulerit

Qaqqatsiaq

Sungasa Nuat

Tuk

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Bjornesund

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GREENLAND

Fiskenaesset Project

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RUBY OCCURRENCES

Surface Plan

Scale: 1:200000

Drawing:

Projection: UTM Zone 22, Northern Hemisphere (WGS 84)

Date:28/11/2006

Author: B. Weston

Office: Vancouver

Greenland

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Map of ruby occurrences in the Fiskenæsset area. Courtesy: True North.

Rubies and pink sapphires

site complex with a total length of morethan 200 km intruded into pillow-struc-tured amphibolites in the greenstone belts.The Fiskenæsset complex comprisesanorthosites, gabbros and utrabasic rocks.Minor components are banded chromititeswhich are up to a few tens of metres inthickness and can be traced at intervalsfor many kilometres. The region has beenrepeatedly deformed and metamorphosedunder amphibolite facies, locally up togranulite facies conditions.

The ruby-bearing rocks are very distinctand often revealed by the abundance ofbright green tschermakite amphibole. Themineral assemblage comprises red corun-dum, red spinel, sapphirine, kyanite, korne-rupine and tourmaline in a groundmass oftschermakite, phlogopite, anorthite anddolomite. These minerals occur in differentproportions. The ruby-bearing zones alwaysoccur either at or close to the contactbetween anorthosite and amphibolite/ultra-basite. Since the anorthosites stand outwith no vegetation due to rapid weather-ing, it is fairly easy to prospect the regionfor ruby occurrences.

Ruby showings vary considerably in sizefrom a few square metres in outcrop toabout ten metres in width and traceable formore than a hundred metres. The largestruby showing is the so-called Siggartartulikshowing and several tonnes of ruby-bear-ing material have been extracted from thislocality.

Ruby occurrences have also been record-ed elsewhere in West Greenland, althoughonly very limited prospecting for ruby-bearing rocks has been carried out. In theinland area east of Nuuk extensive anortho-site bodies have been found including sev-eral ruby showings. Most of these occurnear the contact between anorthosite andamphibolite/ultrabasite. One of the show-ings is on Storø, where up to 10 cm large

euhedral barrel-shaped crystals have beenfound in a biotite matrix. These rubies arered but neither transparent nor translu-cent. In areas close to the Inland Ice rubieshave been found in similar environments.

Near Maniitsoq north of Nuuk, redcorundum crystals have been found. Theyhave developed as barrel-shaped crystals,often very large (up to 1 kg) and embeddedin biotite and thus easy to release. Thecolour is, however, not quite as intense theother material described above.

Considering the close geological resem-blance between the Fiskenæsset region andthe area further north, it seems appropri-ate to assume that the ruby-potential nearNuuk and further north is promising.

Gem types and processing

The coloured gems so far recovered havebeen classified as rubies and pink sap-phires. In 2005 True North established asmall cutting and polishing centre in the

village of Fiskenæsset in order to teachthe local residents how to cut and polishcabochons of ruby. In the early spring2006 a team of teachers and machinerywere introduced for courses in facetingrubies. The courses were successful andsome of the residents proved to have thepotential for faceting gem stones.

A piece of ruby rough discovered in2005, approximately 4 cm x 5.5 cm with amaximum thickness of 3 cm, has beengraded as near-gem with gem segments.The material is a polycrystaline form, dis-playing good natural red colourationthroughout, with mostly translucent tonear-transparent sections. This gem piecehas been carved yielding a stone of 302carat which is estimated to have a valueof around 1.5 million CAD.

True North has carried out a number ofbeneficiation tests on the rubies, someusing automated optical sorting devicesoriginally constructed to separate reusableglass. Tests have also been made to heat-treat fractured and very pale rubies inorder to obtain better colour and less frac-tures. The results are promising and theactivity in the Fiskenæsset region is proba-bly approaching the exploitation stage.

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Canadian gem cutting expert Brad Wilsondemonstrates the faceting equipment inFiskenæsset. Courtesy: True North.

Rubies from Aappaluttoq. From left to right, stones weigh 0.43, 0.42, 0.77, 0.43, and 0.22carats. Courtesy: True North.

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Cluster of ruby crystals, Fiskenæsset, WestGreenland. Size of cluster: 2,8 x 4, 2 cm.Courtesy: Geological Museum.

G E M S T O N E S O F G R E E N L A N D

Kornerupine

Kornerupine has been known since 1884,when the mineral was found and describedfrom a locality near Qeqertarsuatsiaat(Fiskenæsset). The mineral was hosted in asequence of anorthosite within the foldedchromite-anorthosite igneous complex ofthe area. Kornerupine is associated with asuite of spectacular minerals such as sap-phirine, ruby, cordierite, tschermakite,spinel and tourmaline. The normal shapeof kornerupine is radiating aggregates butlocally single crystals with a distinctly pris-matic habit have developed. In 1975 a newsite in the area delivered giant crystals ofkornerupine measuring up to 23 cm (9 inch)in length.

The usual colour of the mineral fromthe West Greenland area is greyish-green-ish with a brownish tint and with a non-transparent appearance. The giant crystalsdisplay a clear blue-green colour, scatteredwith smaller areas with sufficient clarityand freedom from flaws to allow facetedgems to be made. Altogether 21 stoneswere cut from this material, including 14faceted gems and 7 cabochons. Thelargest examples of 5.88 and 1.72 caratsare displayed at the Geological Museumof Copenhagen. The material has neverbeen traded or otherwise commerciallytested.

Although none of the faceted exam-ples are completely flawless, the clearcolour and the pleochromism from darkgreen to light blue is convincing and ren-ders the Greenland kornerupine withpromising possibilities as an attractivecoloured stone. The number of localities israther limited and until 1975 only the typespecimens from 1884 were known.However, the find of the single crystalspoints to a potential for new finds.

Tugtupite

Tugtupite was introduced as a new miner-al from Greenland in 1965. However, itwas discovered as early as 1957 at a sitealong the shore of the Tunulliarfik fjord inSouth Greenland. Material from the locali-ty was described as white and it was men-tioned that the colour changes to pale

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Above: Faceted kornerupine from theFiskenæsset area. Stones of 1.72 ct (top) and0.68 ct (bottom). Courtesy: GeologicalMuseum.

Left: Giant kornerupine crystal (23 cm inlength) from the Fiskenæsset area. Courtesy:Geological Museum.

Exploitation of other gemstones

Below: Rough sample of tugtupite in veinwith white albite and brown spahlerite fromthe Narsaq area. Size of sample: 8 x 10 cm.

pink after exposure to daylight. In 1965the tugtupite with a dark crimson redcolour was found on the Kvanefjeldmountain near the town of Narsaq, andsince then this strong coloured type hasbeen the most sought after by collectorsand tourists. A light blue variety is alsoknown from this locality. Tugtupite isfound within the peralkaline igneousIlimaussaq Intrusion and it is confined tolate hydrothermal veins, often associatedwith albite, analcime, aegirine, sphalerite,neptunite and pyrochlore. Most tugtupiteis massive, and developed crystals areextremely rare. Since the presentation in1965, several new showings have beendiscovered in the area. Many of these

have been emptied and to day propershowings of tugtupite albite veins arehard to find.

As tugtupite is typically found in mas-sive, polycrystalline pieces, the typical cutof the stone has been as cabochons or asshaped pieces, intended for mounting inprecious metal frames. Tugtupite is mostlycut and polished by local craftsmen in akind of lapidary home industry. The cabo-chons are sold by local dealers and intourist shops and in airports. The mineralis well known outside Greenland and alsotraded internationally at jewellers and attrade shows. The potential for larger pro-duction is limited. The area with theknown occurrence is small and on top of

this the local municipality has issuedadministrative regulations concerningcommercial collecting.

Tugtupite has gained a reputation asthe Greenland gemstone par excellence.The colour change from red to pink orwhite and back to red after being exposedto daylight (or ultraviolet radiation) afterbeing in the dark (in the jewel case), ismore of a curiosity, not known in othergemstones, and maybe not really a mar-keting issue. On the other hand tugtupiteis renowned for its intense glowing darkred fluorescence, when it is exposed toshort-wave UV-light. Accurate pricing oftugtupite is difficult to obtain because ofthe great range of quality from differentshowings, however, it is one of the high-est priced Greenland stones.

Lapis lazuli

Around 60 km east of the town ofManiitsoq at a locality named Tupertalikafter the 980 m a.s.l. mountain nearby,lapis lazuli (lazurite) has been known sincethe 1960s. At that time the area wasbeing prospected by KryolitselskabetØresund A/S, which did not find it ofcommercial interest. The locality was sam-pled and mapped in 1979 and 1981 byGEUS. After that time local lapidariansshowed some interest in the area. It islocated along the margin of a slightlyfolded and metamorphosed Archaean car-bonatite sheet within the basement. As aresult of reaction between the carbonatiteand the basement gneisses, new mineralssuch as skapolite and lazurite have devel-oped. The skapolite is white and the lazu-rite is pale ultramarine blue, and thereforepieces cut from the material have thecharacteristic combination of blue ground-mass with irregular white spots. Specks ofsulphides are never found in Greenlandmaterial. The size of the carbonatite isaround 200 x 500 m, which representsthe surface exposure of the margins of theslightly folded sheet. Lazurite from

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Cabochon cut tugtupite from the Narsaqarea. Largest cabochon: 2.5 cm.

Greenland is only known from this locality.Lazurite is normally observed cut and

polished by local craftsmen in a kind oflapidary home industry. Chacochons andplane polished slabs are most popular, typ-ically in various mounts of silver. It is notunusual to see jewellery where lazurite iscombined with other coloured Greenlandgemstones such as tugtupite and ama-zonite. The potential for further finds islimited to the size of the carbonatiteexposure. Greenland lazurite has neverbeen a target for commercial exploration.One prominent use of the material is as apart of the decoration of the neck chaininsignia of the mayor of Maniitsoq.

Amazonite

Within the Nunarssuit intrusive complex inSouth Greenland a number of pegmatitedykes have been found at several localitiesin the westernmost ‘main granite’. Thecomplex is of Mid Gardar age (1150 Ma),it is composed of suites of granites andsyenites and is located on the Nunarssuit

peninsula. The complex is well-known forits pegmatites, often located in sequencesof microgranite. The amazonite is nicelydeveloped together with coarse quartzand biotite in dykes of up to 1-2 m width.Graphic granite is frequently seen border-

ing the pegmatites. Amazonite crystals areup 5 x 15 cm.

Granitic pegmatites in the Tasiilaq areaof East Greenland have been reported tocontain well developed amazonite crystals,but the colour of the Tasiilaq material is

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Lazurite crystal from the Maniitsoq area.Sample size: 5 x 5.5 cm. Courtesy:

Geological Museum.

Cabochon cut lazurite from the Maniitsoqarea. Size of cabochon: 2 x 4 cm.

Amazonite crystal in pegmatite from theNunarssuit area. Length of crystal: 15 cm.

pale blue-green compared to theNunarssuit crystals.

The Nunarssuit amazonite has thecharacteristic silvery internal reflections,which are enhanced by polishing, either ascabochons or as plane slabs. TheNunarssuit occurrence has been quarriedfor pilot uses under an exploitation licenseheld in 1986 by the municipality ofQaqortoq. The municipality intended toestablish work shops in the town. Hereresidents could use the material from thequarry and learn to cut and polish gem-stones of local heritage, so called unique‘town gemstones’. However, the initiativewas closed in 1987 after several attemptsto create treated gemstones and the quar-ried amazonite was dispersed amongtown collectors. Eventually the license wasrelinquished. The potential has been eval-uated as good, as the pegmatites arefound at several places in the area.

Nuummite

Nuummite is a gemstone formed from amixture of two minerals from the amphi-bole group: anthophyllite and gedrite. Thename nuummite (meaning ‘from Nuuk’) isderived from the name of the Greenlandcapital, Nuuk, where the stone was dis-

covered in 1982 by GEUS. Some mightclaim that nuummite was in fact rediscov-ered, since the mineralogist K.L. Gieseckehad collected similar specimens in 1810.The two minerals arefound at severallocalities in theNuuk area.

Nuummite isthought tobe of volcanicorigin and wasformed about 3billion years ago.Metamorphicalteration of the rock resulted in the strik-ing mixture of crystals which gives nuum-mite its unique appearance. Nuummitehas an overall hardness of 5_–6 and con-stitutes a mixture of elongated crystals,often in sheaf-like groups. In the transitionbetween the individual crystals (and espe-cially the thin ones), an optical effect iscreated which causes them to display aparticular ‘inner’ golden glow, almost likeflames in a fire. This effect is known as iri-descence, and is very distinctive on pol-ished surfaces. The colours vary somewhatbetween reddish, greenish and bluishnuances.

Nuummite is typically treated by locallapidarians and has created a base for asolid home business. It is generally easy topolish, even though it can be difficult to

avoid holes and cracks in certainqualities of stones with

many parallel crystals.The usual shape iscabochon, but otherconvex finishes alsoproduce attractive

shapes. In larger piecesit is possible to retain mostof the colours of the irides-cence, so that one end ofthe cabochon has a golden

colour while the opposite end has a bluishhue.

The marketing of nuummite immedi-ately after its discovery was quite intense,with a successful initiative to introduce iton the international market. The munici-pality of Nuuk carried out exploitation ofthe material for a short period in the mid1980s. The potential for finding moreshowings seems to be good.

Greenlandite

The rock greenlandite (‘grønlandite’) wasgiven this grandiose, unofficial name to

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Sample of rough greenlanditefrom the Nuuk area. Size ofsample: 7 x 8 cm.

Cabochon cut nuummite (3.5 cm) fromthe Nuuk area.

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mark Greenland’s new interest in its rocks.The stone was discovered in the 1960sduring the survey of the large irondeposit, Isukasia north of Nuuk and it wassubsequently discovered at several locali-ties in the Nuuk area. It was later estab-lished that the geological environment inwhich greenlandite was formed was in theorder of 3.8 billion years old. This makes itone of the earth’s oldest formations andaccordingly the oldest gemstone in theworld.

As a result of the dominant quartz witha hardness of 7, greenlandite is fairly hardand can readily be polished to a smoothsurface which is often done as cabochonsand plane slabs. Varying green and whitestreaks in the same piece can producemany variants of the stone. Thin slices arepartially translucent, and are thereforewell-suited to uses requiring light to passthrough. Greenlandite is also well-suitedas a dimension stone for use in decora-tions.

Greenlandite consists of quartzite witha green chromium-bearing mica, fuchsite,evenly distributed throughout, giving thestone a fresh green colour. Quartzite ismade of fine-grained quartz, while thefuchsite resembles glitter with fine, smallspangles distributed throughout the rock.It has a metallic inner glow deriving fromits many spangles. This type of stone isalso known among the jewellers as greenaventurine quartz, also reported fromBrazil and southern African localities.Experts will note that the colour of green-landite is more bluish green than the for-eign types. The potential of finding moreraw material in Greenland is good in theNuuk area. There has been no attempt toexploit greenlandite commercially so far.

Other semi-preciousgemsSmall occurrences of other traditionalgemstones are also known in Greenland: Beryl (bluegreen), chalcedony (red, brown,green, blue and white), cordierite(dichroite), feldspar (‘moonstone’), garnet,

peridote (olivine), quartz (rocky, smoky,amethyst), spinel (red), topaz (microcrys-talline) and tourmaline (black) have beenfound in sporadic showings, some ofthem already popular as gem material andothers still with an unproven potential asgems. Medium-hard minerals like cancri-nite, natrolite, prehnite, sodalite (blue, yel-low, green) and thulite are often used bylocal lapidarians in areas where they arefamiliar to the rock hounds. Like nuum-mite and greenlandite, a number of rockshave been polished and cabochon cut andhave gained a reputation and trade statusas unique Greenland gemstone souvenirs.Examples are graphic granite, kakortokite(eudialyte-rich nepheline syenite), naujaite(pokillitic nepheline syenite), tschermakitewith ruby, and ‘satellitestone’ (a poly-chrome mixture of natrolite and sodalite).Such materials probably have a steady orslightly rising potential within a localhome handicraft industry.

Concluding remarks

Greenland gemstones have played a quietbut important role as the bearer of a pub-lic understanding of mineral exploitation.With new opportunities for including pre-cious gems such as diamond and ruby inthis context, mineral exploitation of gem-stones is moving from local scale to amuch more widespread and importantmineral resource business. The potentialfor such a development is certainly pos-sible, at least based on recent explorationresults. Additionally, Greenland couldencounter more diversity in gemstoneexploration, if the obvious potential forgem material in hard rock deposits is fullyexploited.

MajuagaaMajuagaaStorøStorø

Garnet Lake(Sarfartoq)

Qaqortoq

Ilímaussaq

Isukasia

Garnet Lake(Sarfartoq)

Tasiilaq

MajuagaaStorø

QaqortoqNunarssuit

Ilímaussaq

Narsaq

Isukasia

Aappaluttoq(Fiskenæsset)

Nuuk

ManiitsoqSisimiut

Localities for gemstones in Greenland.

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Key references

Appel, P. W. U. (1995d). "Ruby occurrences in the

Fiskenæsset area, West Greenland." Open File

Series Grønlands Geologiske Undersøgelse,

95/11: 24.

Appel, P. W. U. and A. Jensen (1987). "A new

gem material from Greenland: iridescent orthoam-

phibole [nuummite]." Gems and Gemology, 23:

36–42.

Bøggild, O. B. (1953). "The mineralogy of Green-

land." Meddelelser om Grønland 149,3: 1-442.

Dragsted, O.(1970): Tugtupite. Journal of Gem-

mology 12, 10–11

Gübelin, E. J. (1979). "Fiskenässet.. Rubinvor-

kommen auf Grönland." Lapis, 4(3): 19–26.

Herd, R. K., B. F. Windley, et al. (1969). "The

mode of occurrence and petrogenesis of the sap-

phirine-bearing and associated rocks of West

Greenland." Rapport Grønlands Geologiske

Undersøgelse, 24: 44.

Jensen, A. and O. V. Petersen (1982). "Tugtupite:

a gemstone from Greenland." Gems and Gem-

ology, 18: 90–94.

Jensen, S. M., K. Secher, & Rasmussen, TM.R.

(2004). "Diamond content of three kimberlitic

occurrences in southern West Greenland. Diamond

identification results, field description and mag-

netic profiling." Danmarks og Grønlands Geo-

logiske Undersøgelse Rapport 2004/19: 41 pp.

Jensen, S. M., K. Secher, et al. (2004). Diamond

exploration data from West Greenland: 2004

update and revision, Danmarks og Grønlands

Geologiske Undersøgelse Rapport 2004/117: 90

+ DVD.

Myers, J. S. (1985). Stratigraphy and structure of

the Fiskenæsset Complex, southern West

Greenland. Grønlands Geologiske Undersøgelse

Bulletin 150, 72 pp.

Nielsen, T.F.D., Jebens, M., Jensen, S.M. &

Secher, K. (2006). Archetypal kimberlite from the

Maniitsoq region, southern West Greenland and

analogy to South Africa. Geological Survey of

Denmark and Greenland Bulletin 10, 45–48

Petersen, O. V., O. Johnsen & Jensen, A. (1980).

"Giant crystals of kornerupine." Mineralogical

Record, 11: 93–96.

Petersen, O. V. and K. Secher (1993). "The

Minerals of Greenland." The Mineralogical Record

24,2, 1-67.

Petersen, O. V. et al., (2002). Dravite from

Qarusulik, Ameralik Fjord in southwestern Green-

land. In: A Gemstone Spectrum. ExtraLapis English

No. 3 Tourmaline. 42–46.

Sinkankas, J. (1997). Gemstones of North

America, (Vol III). Tuscon, Arizona: Geoscience

Press, 527 pp.

Steenfelt, A., Secher, K. & Garde, A.A (in press):

An overview of pegmatite occurrences in Green-

land and their economic potential. Danmarks og

Grønlands Geologiske Undersøgelse Rapport

2007/2.

Sørensen, H., Danø, M. & Petersen, O.V. (1971):

On the mineralogy and paragenesis of tugtupite.

Meddelelser om Grønland 181(13), 37 pp.

Front cover photographExploration for rubies at Mikisoq near

Appaluttoq. The field team examines a

ruby rich horizon. Courtesy: True North.

Bureau of Minerals and Petroleum(BMP)

Government of GreenlandP.O. Box 930

DK-3900 NuukGreenland

Tel: (+299) 34 68 00Fax.: (+299) 32 43 02

E-mail: bmp@gh.glInternet: www.bmp.gl

Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland (GEUS)

Øster Voldgade 10DK-1350 Copenhagen K

Denmark

Tel: (+45) 38 14 20 00Fax.: (+45) 38 14 20 50E-mail: geus@geus.dkInternet: www.geus.dk

AuthorK. Secher & P. Appel, GEUS

EditorKarsten Secher, GEUS

Graphic ProductionCarsten E. Thuesen, GEUS

PhotographsGEUS unless otherwise stated

PrintedJanuary 2007 © GEUS

PrintersSchultz Grafisk

ISSN1602-818x

A 302 carat ruby chunkcarved into various figurines.Carved by Thomas McPhee.Courtesy: True North.