Joined: Sun Oct 16, 2005 12:22 pm Posts: 21602 Location: San Francisco
Brecken Branstrator for National Jeweler wrote:
Greenland Rubies: What We Know At This Point
The rubies and pink sapphires coming out of Greenland are about ready to make their debut.
Greenland Ruby officially announced the start of production at Aappaluttoq in May, making headway on a project that stalled after the former owner of the license to mine the site, True North Gems, ran into financial troubles.
Aappaluttoq is Greenland’s first corundum mine, located about 155 miles south of Greenland’s capital, Nuuk. The deposit is primary type, meaning that the rubies are extracted from hard rock.
While scale and production numbers are still to be determined, the site could prove to be an important one, offering a consistent supply of gem-quality rubies and pink sapphires.
In effort to keep up with the project, I recently had a chat with Hayley Henning, vice president of sales and marketing at Greenland Ruby, about the company’s progress.
Almost all of what I've seen from there has been near-abrasive grade but preaented as if it were valuable material, though with a few exceptions. I don't remember all the details but I think they are also glossong over what happemed with True North.
Oh yes, there are absolutely some good stones, but they seem to be the exception on what's been presented. That said there's already been some reality TV surrounding the deposit which could have added some real noise on top of everything else. I remember hearing something about them essentially being forced out after having actually discovered the deposit, but these things can get pretty fuzzy when they're second-hand.
I followed True North Gems for a while as an investor, back when they found emerald I think and aqua in the Canadian arctic. Lots of press and a few examples of beautiful cut stones, then usual pump-and-dump.
Went quiet for a few years then popped up in Greenland chasing gems there, with the same outcome.
I would be very surprised to hear there are commercially-viable quantities of high-quality gems out of the mine... but then again I'll be happy to be proven wrong.
Some other places that are being investigated are Baffin Island (with only about 2 months of access per year) and I think a sapphire deposit in Newfoundland/Labrador which the locals have known about for decades and been picking specimen-grade crystals from.
Waaaay back in the 90s there was a different group Seahawk Minerals that started an emerald mine in Brazil. Created a whole access ramp and the works before shutting down and screwing all the shareholders that bought in the ensuing hype. I think they hit $5/share before disappearing. I have an inordinate number of their shares sitting in an account - worthless, but can't be removed from the account until the company is fully wound up, in case it might reactivate and be worth something again in the future. (my story is that I bought in really early for under $0.10/share, and instead of selling got greedy and hung on in the classic sucker investor "wait it'll come back" trap)
Sorry to be a nay-sayer but this story keeps getting repeated over two decades name, with nary a gem mine to show for it.
-Allan
PS - yes, I was a sucker for a good gem story back in the day...
_________________ Allan Aoyama http://www.omnifaceter.net <- Omnifaceter is back online!
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