Ruby and Pink Sapphire from Aappaluttoq, Greenland

Fine exsolutions of rutile needles and platelets (sometimes arrowhead shaped) also are commonly encountered in Greenland gem corundum. Photomicrograph by Christopher P. Smith; magnified 58x

Since 1966, rubies and pink sapphires have been recovered from the south-west coastal region of Greenland. Until recently, only minor amounts of gem material were produced by local people using small-scale artisanal mining techniques. In 2014, True North Gems Inc. (Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada) completed mine permitting, and an exploitation licence for the extraction of gem corundum was issued for the area around the Aapaluttoq deposit. The property changed ownership in November 2016, and the first sale of its rubies and pink sapphires is expected to take place in 2017. The mineralization is hosted by the Fiskenaesset Anorthosite Complex, primarily within a phlogopite-bearing metasomatic rock. Standard gemmological properties are consistent with metamorphic-metasomatic-type rubies and pink sapphires from other world deposits. Typical inclusion features consist of coarse particles and fine needles of rutile, as well as inclusions of mica, talc, pargasite, cordierite, sillimanite, plagioclase and boehmite. The chemical composition of the Greenland rubies and pink sapphires is characterized by relatively high Fe contents and comparitively low concentrations of Ti, V, and Ga.

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