LNS: International Ruby Launch This Summer
Ore from the ruby mine is split up before ending up in the laboratory, where the stones are cleansed, sorted and classified. An arduous process. (Photo: LNS Greenland)
- We have started sorting and cleansing the rubies in Greenland, and we aim at an international launch of the gemstones this summer.
- We have started sorting and cleansing the rubies in Greenland, and we aim at an international launch of the gemstones this summer.
That is what Gunnar Moe, Chairman of the Board of LNS Greenland, says to High North News. The company's ruby adventure on Greenland has been quite a rollercoaster ride. Now there is light at the end of the tunnel, in the form of production going according to plan.
Many different qualities
- Ore is split up in the processing plant, then the pebbles come out from the plant, and in the laboratory the stones are sorted and cleansed as we speak, says the happy Chairman.
- What volumes are we talking about here, of ready-made rubies and sapphires?
- It is impossible to say yet. First of all, we have to produce for at least three months' time before we can say anything about the volume. Secondly, it depends very much on the various qualities. We have called in gemology experts (experts on gemstones, editorial note), a team consisting of experts from Europe and from the East. At the same time as they sort and classify the gems coming out from the plant, they are also training our own people, Moe says.
Prefers in-house operation
- We want to run this process as an in-house operation all the way through, to do most things ourselves and with our own people, the Chairman says. – And to say something about volume; there are estimates indicating that we through an entire year of operations should be able to take out about a ton of ready-made stones, i.e. 1,000 kilos. That covers all qualities, from what is referred to as 'non-gems' via 'near-gems' to pure gemstones.
That said, Moe says, - I am on thin ice as fare as knowledge about gems goes. I know about as much about classification of rubies and sapphires as I do about classifying dried fish – in other words: nothing at all. What is sure is that there are many different qualities, and that the 1,000 kilos mentioned will only contain a few percent that are high-quality gemstones. However, their price will be accordingly superior.
International launch
In the weeks and months ahead, LNS Greenland will produce and sort a suitable amount of stones, which will then be used in the international launch and marketing of the Greenland rubies, which is to happen in the third quarter of this year, according to plans.
The stones are cleansed before being sorted and classified by gemology experts in the laboratory. (Photo: LNS Greenland)
- It is hard to estimate exact volumes before we have been operational for a while, and have brought the stones out from the mountain and classified them, Gunnar Moe says. (Archive photo: TNG)
Only a small percentage of the stones extracted are high-quality gemstones – and all the more precious. (Archive photo: TNG).