Gemstone industry in Greenland: Difference between revisions

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When European scientists first arrived in Greenland over 200 years ago to study the geology, they encountered native Inuit (“eskimo”) people who were already familiar with the red gemstone variety of the mineral corundum, known as ruby (Giesecke, 1833).

The native inhabitants continued to assist the European explorers with their ruby exploration, leading them to some half dozen locations, spread out for over a hundred miles along the southwest shores of Greenland, known as the Kitaa Coast (Boggild, 1953).

Ruby and sapphire are the red and blue gemstone varieties of corundum (Al2O3). Ruby is colored red by the presence of minute amounts of the element chromium, whereas sapphire is normally blue due to the presence of minute quantities of the elements iron and titanium (Hughes, 1997).

Discovery

In 1966, gem-quality ruby was finally discovered in outcrop on what became known as Ruby Island by Dr. Martin Ghisler, with the Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland (GEUS). Ghisler’s scouts and support staff drew heavily from the native population of the nearby village of Fiskenaesset. The exploration team discovered ruby in association with the minerals sapphirine, kornerupine, pargasite, and phlogopite, confirming six ruby deposits in the Fiskenaesset district (Petersen and Secher, 1993).

During the 1970’s, a succession of junior Canadian mining companies, among them Platinomino, Fiscannex, and Valhalla, explored the region for chromite and platinum and attempted, unsuccessfully, to commercialize the ruby occurrences near Fiskenaesset (Geisler, 1983).

Peter Appel (1995) with the Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland, published a comprehensive review of the six ruby deposits then known in the Fiskenaesset district and recognized sufficient potential to encourage further exploration. Based on his recommendations, two independent geologists named Bill Brereton and Bill Anderson consolidated the land holdings at Fiskenaesset (Anderson, 1995).

Exploration

In 2004, William Rohtert identified the Greenland Ruby as the most important colored gemstone occurrence in the entire Arctic while working on behalf of True North Gems, Inc., a small Canadian exploration company established to search for colored gemstones at high northern latitudes. True North acquired the Fiskenaesset property from Brereton and Anderson. The company was motivated by the success of their competitors in the Canadian diamond fields beginning in 1991 (www.truenorthgems.com).

Rohtert hired local Inuit from Fiskenaesset and Nuuk, the capital of Greenland, to help explore the district and, over the course of the next three years, his team increased the number of ruby occurrences known from six to twenty nine. They bulk sampled the main deposits and demonstrated the economic potential for a ruby mine (Rohtert and Ritchie, 2006). True North Gems paid for Canadian gem and jewelry experts to come to the community and train the locals in order to assist them in developing a cottage industry making ruby jewelry and mounting collector specimens. By the time Mr. Rohtert left True North Gems in early 2007 after presiding over an exploration budget that was seriously overspent due to such activities as airlifting massive ruby encrusted boulders into a playground at the village, virtually every home in the village of Fiskenaesset (population 250) had ruby in it.

After replacing management over the ruby project, in 2007 True North Gems began to drill a ruby deposit in the Fiskenaesset district at a place called Aappaluttoq Ridge. The new management was accused of discouraging the villagers from Fiskenaesset, as well as Inuit from elsewhere in Greenland, from coming onto the area of their exploration license, even though it was argued that the Greenlanders had the right of mineral access under “Section 32” of the country’s Mineral Resources Act administerd by the Bureau of Minerals and Petroleum (www.bmp.gl). Section 32 was argued to confirm not only native people's right of access to the land to hunt and fish and prospect for minerals for their own purposes, but also to hand mine gem grade ruby material, even on the legal exploration licenses of other parties. Later interpretation of this Section excluded this clause from being used for the commercial exploitation of gem grade material, which is clearly not an Inuit tradition.

Mining Rights

In the decades prior to significant commercial potential of Greenland's ruby being recognized, small numbers of Greenlanders had been supplying their friends and family, as well as the gift shops serving international tourists visiting the island, with ruby and ruby jewelry hand mined from Fiskenaesset. Under the “One Handful” rule, every visitor is allowed to take one handful of rocks or mineral specimens home as a souvenir of their trip to Greenland.

On 16 August 2007, less than two weeks after a small Arctic newspaper reported that an American man was arrested for allegedly attempting to smuggle ruby out of the country (http://www.sikunews.com/art.html?catid=6&artid=3593)munder the the legal 'one handful rule'. This case is still outstanding and yet to be proven. A Greenlandic former employee of True North Gems named Niels Madsen and his friends went to Aappaluttoq Ridge to mine ruby that was being explored under an exploration license by True North Gems. these traditional Greenland miners were totally within their right to mine under section 32 of the minerals act. Mr. Madsen spent much of this day with a video camera filming their activity. True North called the Bureau of Mines and Petroluem as they did not wish Greenlanders to be present on their exploration license and the Greenland Police arrived by helicopter to detain and expel Madsen’s group. This act was in contravention of section 32. The Bureau of Minerals and Petroleum (BMP) then forbade these Greenlanders from taking gem grade material from True North's exploration claim, an activity historically referred to in other locales as "claim-jumping" although in Greenland is perfectly legal due to the unique historical context of Native rights in Greenland. In protest of being excluded from a legally protected right, the Greenlander's evicted formed the “16 August Union” to protest the incident and fight against the illegal support by the BMP of True North Gems desire to hold a monopoly on Greenland rubies and to marginalize native peoples from their historic traditions. To date True North Gems have removed 100's of kilos of ruby rough from Greenland soil and because they are not in possession of an exploitation license are not allowed to profit from the activity under the Greenlandic mineral code.

Recent Politics

This summer, the 16 August Union have generated an ongoing paper and electronic email petition in support of their cause (http://www.sten.underskrifter.dk/) They have currently obtained over 3500 signatures from a country with only 57,000 people, about 4.5% of the population. Another 1000 people internationally signed over the internet. As of September 2008, the Greenland Parliament is now debating the rights of the native people under Section 32, versus a new proposal by the BMP that would require Greenlanders to follow the same rules and regulations of taxable corporations, which are accountable for their mining activities and must pass a number of hurdles in demonstrating public benefit before they mine and generate any profit. The 16 August Union contends that the natives cannot afford the high cost and the new burdens. They claim that BMP’s actions amount to an economic Apartheid, where the government favors foreign mining interests who have followed the rules set out for mining over Greenlanders such as Madsen. True North Gems the foreign mining company contends that it has the support of the Greenlandic community of Fiskenaesset, where the rubies are located, and that the 16 August Union are self-interested Greenlanders who do not represent the local community or Greenlanders in general. True North Gems is operating in full compliance with Greenlandic law, which allows commercial ventures to take place under exploitation licences which currently True North Gems does not possess. The 16th August Union is looking for the the law makers to uphold their traditional rights under section 32 of the mineral act and in doing so allow both large scale and small scale mining activity to benefit the Greenland economy . (http://www.fairjewelry.org/archives/364)

Background and Stakeholders

The fact that extremely valuable rubies have been found in Greenland has created an issue where outside parties have attempted to take a stake.

The politicization of Greenlandic ruby followed the arrest of an American for attempting to remove valuable ruby material from the country. (http://www.sikunews.com/art.html?catid=6&artid=3593) This material was believed to have come from True North Gems exploration license, although the individual arrested was not a current employee of the company. The arrest of this gentleman was followed in less than two weeks by the politicized removal of gem grade material from True North Gems's exploration property by another former employee of the company, Niels Madsen. The publicizing of a politicized verion of issue treated by police as a simple case of smuggling was done by associates of foreign businesses who would have a financial interest in selling material mined by natives without taxation and administration by the Greenlandic government. For example, a website first politicizing Greenland ruby was created by Marc Choyt, president of Reflective Images, a company which sells jewellery sourced from the type of mining that has been specifically deemed illegal in Greenlandic law by a revision of Section 32 of the mining act. This same website included an article by Greg Valerio, who is the owner of a business by the name of Cred Jewellery. He has likewise been active in attempting to make a case for uncontrolled mining of the rubies in the name of native rights.

The financial interest of former True North Gems employee Niels Madsen, who had by his description millions of dollars worth of gem grade rubies removed from his possession by police, is self-evident. Other Greenlanders have been told that they could pick valuable rubies like berries if the law was interpreted to allow mining to be done in unrestricted manner. Their interest in signing petitions to allow such activity could be interpreted as being financial self-interest, rather than any kind of ideological support or evidence of the dubious claim that mining valuable ruby, only relatively recently found in a very small and remote area, is an Inuit tradition.

True North Gems holds the legal exploration license on the small area of Greenland that holds the ruby that is of economic interest. According to law, ruby from the site remains the property of the government until an exploitation license is granted. True North Gems, which is a small company with no revenues, has economically benefited local employees and businesses to the extent possible within the confines of its budgets. It has an interest in advancing the property to the exploitation stage, which includes convincing the government of positive impact of the mining for locals and the Greenlandic people. Ethical treatment of Greenland locals is therefore in their financial interests. The removal of material from their license by outside parties, including former employees, represents interference in their legal claim to the property and their legally mandated control and documentation of material from the site until such time as an exploitation license is issued and the material can be legally sold and taxed.

The Greenland government has an interest in seeing that its mineral resources are mined and taxed to the benefits of the Greenland people. Without the clear legal recognition of rights of those who have purchased exploration licenses, foreign investors who would attempt to discover resources in Greenland and such resources would never be exploited and taxed. In addition, if valuable rubies were to be removed in the name of indigenous rights without control, there would be no way to control smuggling and illegal sale of rubies from commercial sites. As it is, if valuable Greenlandic rubies are to be sold, they must be as the result of government sanctioned mining activities or else be known to be the proceeds of smuggling, a situation preferred by the Greenland government but .

References

Anderson, W.J., 1995, Economic geology and exploration potential of the Frederikshab Isblink – Sondre Stromfjord area: Greenland Geological Survey Open File Series 94/18, 30 pp.
Boggild, O.B., 1953, The mineralogy of Greenland: Meddr. Greenland, v. 149, n. 3, 442 pp.
Geisler, R.A., 1976, The ruby deposits at Fiskenaesset, Greenland: Canadian Gemmologist, v. 1, n. 2, p. 4.
Ghisler, M., and Windley, B.F., 1967, The chromite deposits of the Fiskenaesset region, west Greenland: Greenland Geological Survey Report No. 12, 39 pp.
Giesecke, K.L., 1833, Mineralogiske Rejse I Gronland (1806-1813): ved C.F. Jornstrop v. 35.
Hughes, R.W., 1997, Ruby and sapphire: RWH Publishing, Colorado, 511 pp.
Petersen, O.V., and Secher, K., 1993, The minerals of Greenland: Mineralogical Record, v. 24, n. 2, 88 pp.
Rohtert, W.R., and Ritchie, M.R., 2006, Three parageneses of ruby and pink sapphire discovered at Fiskenaesset, Greenland: Gems and Gemology, v. 42, n. 3, p. 149-150.

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