The Greenland Ruby has closed its mineat its Aappaluttoq ruby and pink sapphiremine since the mine was unable to produce an adequate amount of gemstones.
A Saga Unfolds
GemGuide, which was the first publication in the industry to break the news, released a story back in August that quoted Greenland Ruby Chief Commercial Officer Hayley Henning, who stated that output at the site hadn't been meeting expectations for approximately the past year. GemGuide was the first publication in the industry to report the news.
JCKwas informed by Michele Billam, the company's chief sales and merchandising officer, that mining operations have been halted for care and maintenance since January. This information was provided by Ms. Billam last week.
Henning forwarded all inquiries regarding the reports to the Chief Executive Officer of Greenland Ruby, Arnt Erick Rrnes; however, Rrnes did not respond to an email requesting his commentary before the deadline.
The local newspaper in Greenland, Sermitsiaq, stated a month agothat the mine owed 509 million Danish kroner, which is equivalent to almost $73 million based on the current exchange rate.
Offices have been shut down, and staff have been laid off as a result.
According to Sermitsiaq, the mine let go of thirty employees at the beginning of the year and subsequently dismissed the remaining seven employees.
In an interview with National Jewelerthat took place in 2017, Henning stated that the projected lifespan of the mine for Aappaluttoq was somewhere around nine years.
She also stated that exploration discovered two more prospective locations for ruby mining; but, at the time, the firm was "not really there yet" in terms of moving forward at the sites. She said this was because the company was "not really there yet" in terms of moving forward at the sites.
JCK was informed by Billam that exploratory mining had commenced at two locations for which the businessowns licenses.
In addition to prospecting, there is still rough material to be processed, and inventory of ruby is still maintained in Thailand; nevertheless, "sales have been very low," according to Billam.
The Emergence Of Greenland Ruby's Aappaluttoq Ruby Mine
Since 2017, Greenland Ruby's Aappaluttoq ruby mining location in Greenland's southwest region has been producing both rubies and pink sapphires. The site is known as the Aappaluttoq Ruby Mine. It is the very first corundum mine in the country.
LNS Greenland, a stakeholder in the project, was granted the mining license for the Aappaluttoq Ruby Mine after True North Gems announced in September 2016 that it would be filing for voluntary bankruptcy. Previously, the region had been mined by True North Gems.
Its sibling business, Greenland Ruby A/S, was created in October 2016 with the purpose of taking over the exploration license and managing the promotion and sales of the mine's output.
An article published in the 2019 edition of GemGuideby Stuart M. Robertson, GIA GG, stated that the acquisition of the appropriate permissions to export and market gemstones by Greenland Ruby made it possible for commercial quantities of these rubies and sapphires to enter the international gem trade.
He stated that the reasonable price point of the stones, which began at less than $100 per carat, together with the fact that they could be traced from the mine to the marketwas what made Greenland rubies desirable to the market.
Greenland Ruby made the announcement in January of this year that it had selected Rrnes, who had previously worked for the parent company Leonhard Nislen & Sonner AS (LNS), to serve as its new Chief Executive Officer. Magnus Kibsgaard was succeeded by him.