Just as the world is starting to look for alternatives to “blood” diamonds, which are mined from African war zones and help fund violence, there’s also a movement to seek rubies outside of the “Valley of Rubies” in Myanmar, which provides 90 per cent of the world’s supply and has a dismal human rights record. Part of the answer seems to be in Greenland, where for ages Inuit villagers have plucked the precious stones out of the tundra. But according to True North Gems, a Canadian mining company, the rubies — including a huge half-million-dollar ruby “confiscated” from a villager’s home — are no longer theirs for the plucking.
Marc Choyt at Fair Trade Jewelry says:
On the third day, Madsen and his group heard the percussive thump of chopper blades bouncing off the stark mountains.
The helicopter landed close in and BMP officials jumped out with three armed police officers who encircled their group. Madsen described them as aggressive and intimidating in their tone.
[…] Madsen and his group observed the police scurrying about the ruby fields, collecting the red crystals and stuffing them into their own pockets.
The group was presented with a remarkable letter from the official with the BMP addressed to Madsen: he was not allowed to prospect or sell any mineral collected on Greenland.
This letter was the first of its kind in the history of the nation.
On a slightly related note, here’s a neat fact about rubies: among naturally occurring gems, only diamonds and moissanite (which is a lot like diamonds) are harder — and not by much.
Image via Gem Affair Fine Jewelers.
1 response so far ↓
1 Rawda // Oct 1, 2008 at 10:08 am
Oh no! Now I have diamond and ruby on the ban list for my engagement ring!
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