The first rubies from a new Greenland mine will go to market soon

Greenland Ruby, a Norwegian-owned mining company operating on Greenland, hopes to sell its first rubies before Christmas this year, and aims at 10 to 15 percent of the world market for rubies.

Time for harvesting

The LNS Greenland ruby adventure has taken a while to get rolling, however, not it seems that the time for harvesting has finally arrived.

– At least we receive good feedback on our products, and we want to make our rubies something quite unique and exclusive, Managing Director Frode Nilsen of LNS told High North News.

Nilsen is not worried about rubies from Greenland hurting prices or the market balance when its production gains momentum.

“Very much is about branding this correctly. We emphasize our exclusivity, the spectacular aspect about the rubies coming from ‘the top of the world’ – not to mention that they are produced according to the highest ethical and social standards.

“In Asia, many people perceive the Arctic as very exotic, so we believe we shall be able to market and sell our gems in a good way,” Nilsen says.

“Our volume is not overwhelming, while at the same time colored, red and pink gems are in fashion and see an increasing demand.”

The LNS Manager is not very specific when it comes to figures for the Greenland ruby mine.

“Production is well underway, we have made some innovations that have allowed us to increase production substantially, and we hope to close our first sale during the last months of this year. These days our sales division is attending a fair in Bangkok, so we will see if we can close some sales there,” Nilsen said. “If all goes well and if we achieve the prices we hope for, we estimate an annual turnover of some NOK 200-300 million in 2018 and the coming years.”

However, that depends on many factors, such as volume, prices etc., Nilsen stresses.

LNS has an operating license for 30 years, with an option to extend it for another 20 years, on this ruby deposit. What has been uncovered or mapped until now, indicates a volume that will allow approximately 10 years of operations.

In addition to this, preliminary and more shallow surveys at the rims of this deposit indicate that there may be significant amounts of gems to collect – for many years ahead.

“However, we cannot say too much in detail yet,” says Managing Director Frode Nilsen of LNS.

This article was translated into English by Elisabeth Bergquist.