By Lauriane Lognay

If somebody had instructed me 20 years in the past moral practices within the jewelry trade wouldn’t solely be potential, however attainable, I in all probability would have laughed and referred to as it wishful pondering—little did I do know!

Immediately, accountable sourcing is completely achievable. We have now entry to forms of recycled treasured metals, and are seeing much less waste, a discount in poisonous merchandise on the bench, and, notably, a rise in regionally mined and minimize gems. Certainly, for gemmologists, there are many moral gems available on the market, together with Montana sapphires and Oregon sunstones, together with an array of choices sourced in Canada. It’s all on the tip of our fingers.

On this column, I can be discussing considered one of my favorite stone and locale combos: Greenland ruby. Greenland is the most important island on the planet, situated between the Arctic and Atlantic Oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. This icy big has its personal autonomous authorities and economic system inside the Kingdom of Denmark.

Recovered from formations that are practically three billion years outdated, Greenland rubies are among the many most historical on the planet. Mined in Aappaluttoq (ah-puh-lu-tok), the supply boasts lovely shades of purple and pink, together with some blue and colourless sapphires. Aappaluttoq (which interprets to ‘purple’ in Greenlandic) was named for the large quantities of purple corundum crystals current within the earth.

The location is operated by LNS Greenland A/S—a sister firm of Greenland Ruby, which is accountable for sorting, promoting, and advertising the fabric. The present mining operation is estimated to have at the very least 10 years’ price of provide for the market in moral gems. At the very least two different deposits have been recognized, however not additional studied or exploited.

In 2019, Greenland Ruby turned the first colored gemstone miner to hitch the Accountable Jewelry Council (RJC). The membership acknowledges and certifies accountable practices in its mine and processing plant, in addition to inside the website’s human operations. Within the colored gemstone trade, this distinction is a supply of nice delight for the corporate as an entire.

Aappaluttoq’s ruby and sapphire deposit was first found within the Nineteen Sixties by the Danish Gemological Survey; permits to mine, nevertheless, weren’t accepted by the federal government of Greenland till 2016, with mining operations formally launched in Could 2017. The years of dedication to the trigger had been what allowed this seemingly unimaginable venture to come back to fruition. These are the one gems mined in Greenland.

The rubies and sapphires in Aappaluttoq’s deposit happen in the identical genetically associated lithologies as the opposite corundum deposits within the space, forming alongside a potential line from the Canadian coast and lengthening under the continental ice sheet of Greenland.

The important thing course of for the creation of these mineralized ore our bodies is an intensive rock-fluid interplay via thermal occasions between an altered ultramafic rock physique and layered magmatic our bodies with a excessive content material of feldspars (Labradorite and moonstone household!). These metasomatic fluids set a low-silicate setting and permit to leach out aluminum out of the feldspars and the chromium out of the ultramafic physique.

The chromium content material dictates the saturation from a pale pink sapphire to a deep purple ruby. This particular chemical response is extremely variable and the proper circumstances to type the gems change drastically over just a few centimetres within the deposit. The ore physique seems to be like a pseudo-vertical pinch and swell quantity, folded, and following the alteration zone on the contact between the 2 lithologies. The corundums could type spatially in an ore-envelope in and across the alteration zone. Due to somewhat erosion price throughout billions of years, we are able to nonetheless discover the gems of their authentic amphibolite host rock.

Because of the area’s sometimes-extreme climate methods and chilly temperatures, it took extraordinary measures for the mine to come back to be. Alas, heavy equipment was transported via harsh circumstances by way of helicopters and boats to create a state-of-the-art mining operation in the course of an icy paradise. The miners had been on the mercy of temperature and local weather for the development of the whole website, making the ensuing success all of the extra treasured. Even right this moment, the deposit stays an every-day problem.

Native residents make for almost all of the employees within the mine and stay on-site. As soon as the sorting course of is accomplished within the processing facility, the ruby tough is distributed to the closest Greenland Ruby workplace in Nuuk, the place it’s cleaned and washed with hydrofluoric acid. This enables for a extra thorough sorting course of, and gems are organized by color, measurement, and readability.

A lot of the manufacturing out of the mine are pink sapphires, adopted by purple (rubies), and, lastly, blue sapphires, which account for the smallest proportion. White, purple, and black gems are additionally recovered in small numbers. Sorted gems are despatched to Chanthaburi, Thailand, for a standard heating therapy.

The entire gems out of the mine are warmth handled with borax, which reveals the true potential of the Greenland colors. This therapy is used to heal fractures, stabilize the stones for reducing, and prepared them for the market. After present process the method, the gems are despatched to India or keep in Chanthaburi for reducing. The fabric is distributed to Bangkok as a final cease, the place rubies are sorted (once more) based mostly on high quality, readability, and color.

Most minimize gems from the mine are cabochons, as that is its speciality, however faceted gems are additionally accessible for buy. The fabric produced tends to be included, so we’ve but to see flawless faceted rubies of notable measurement available on the market from Aappaluttoq. The standard for almost all is medium to business; the portions, nevertheless, are definitely there and able to be purchased.

Clear materials (i.e. the standard that turns into faceted gems) is out there, however the greater portions are within the translucent and opaque varieties.

The value of corundum from the Greenland mine is engaging—it’s less expensive than different sources, in addition to cheaper than the heat-only therapies historically accessible. (Borax heating therapy is usually effectively accepted in america, however is just not as identified in Canada. This is able to be vital to disclose to purchasers previous to finishing a sale.)

The gems are traceable from mine to market, providing a transparency to customers not often seen, however a lot appreciated. Every mined gem has a novel identification quantity, and most include a report about authenticity and origin. The actual fact the availability chain is managed solely by one firm (which additionally chooses its companions to resale) makes the gems much more traceable.

Rubies recovered in Greenland even have a set of distinctive inclusions, permitting laboratories to detect and confirm the origin of the gems. That is akin to detecting if a sapphire or ruby is from Kashmir or Burma—besides now we even have Greenland as a supply for our treasured purple and pink gems.

Greenland Ruby takes nice delight in adhering to moral and socially accountable practices—even going as far as having its personal non-profit group, the Pink Polar Bear Basis. The group, via which a part of the corporate’s income and its companions’ participation are donated, helps analysis for animals, vegetation, and people impacted by local weather change within the Artic, Greenland.

Whereas these gems should not but accessible to each market, jewellers can search accepted Greenland Ruby suppliers in Canada or elsewhere on the planet.

Greenland rubies is probably not probably the most clear colored gems available on the market, however the transparency of the block chain they provide greater than makes up for this. Certainly, these particular gems encourage jobs regionally, and are a breath of recent air within the moral world of gems—which continues to be so small, even right this moment. This, mixed with the corporate’s conservation efforts via the Pink Polar Bear Basis, creates a wonderful mixture of accountable mining and shopping for. This small step for ethicality is a large step for Aappaluttoq and its folks.

Be accountable. Be fabulous. 

Lauriane Lognay is a fellow of the Gemmological Affiliation of Nice Britain (FGA), and has gained a number of awards. She is a gemstone supplier working with jewellers to assist them resolve on the most effective stones for his or her designs. Lognay is the proprietor of Rippana Inc., a Montréal-based firm working in colored gemstone, lapidary, and jewelry companies. She could be reached at [email protected].

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