198ct rough ruby confiscated by Danish Authorities from a local ruby miner. To date it is yet to returned to its rightful owner.I am on a trip to visit The 16th August Union, Greenland’s first official small-scale miners association. The aim as a fair trade jeweller is to work with the Union in their dealing with Denmark's Bureau of Minerals and Petroleum (BMP) who have criminalized Union members for owning ruby and have stopped them selling their rocks to jewellers like me who want a stone from the hand of local people, not the big impersonal, often destructive mining companies.

Many have gathered to celebrate Greenland’s ‘Nearly Independent from Denmark’ celebrations. This will mark the handing over of executive political powers for Police, Judiciary and Mineral law to the Home Rule Government. Stepping out into the chill of Greenland’s June, I pass unchecked and alone through arrivals to be greeted by Niels, Jens and a few others from the 16th August small scale miners Union. We sit down and launch straight into updates. The recent change in government has created a tangible buzz of excitement. The optimism in the air is only muted by the natural reserve of the Greenlander's natural stoicism.

The struggle for native mineral rights in Greenland came knocking at my door two years ago when I was contacted by Mr X, a geologist and gemmologist based out of Los Angeles whose name we cannot use for legal reasons. Mr X’s Native American blood gives him a natural empathy for the Inuits, a marginalised and forgotten people; and his much needed assistance helps to uncap the deep well of frustration created by Danish Colonial mastery. Mr X has taught the Inuit community how to prospect, facet and polish ruby in a professional and modern way. He has also imparted true knowledge of their wealth and value. This is something the Danish run BMP have found deeply offensive.

Mr X understands this neo-colonial attitude only too well from his work with Canadian mining company, True North Gems (TNG). Unsatisfied, he left TNG only to be later arrested on trumped up and yet to be prosecuted (3 years on) charges of Ruby smuggling. This affront sparked an act of prophetic solidarity by Niels and his Inuit friends who went to protest their rights by prospecting ruby on the TNG exploration site. Gandhi called this action ‘rightful economic protest’. In Danish mineral law TNG's exploitation license did not grant them exclusivity and therefore had no legal power to stop the protest. Nevertheless, TNG rang their friends at the BMP who sent the Police to arrest and confiscate the ruby collected by Niels and friends.

This act on behalf of the BMP broke their own law, but when Copenhagen runs the Police, the law courts and the mineral code you have the power to act without accountability or fear of due process. This injustice catalyzed the creation of the 16th August Union, the infamous date the miners were arrested and led to the Island wide clamp down, preventing all local people having the rights to mine. In the words of Mr. Lars Lund Sorensen the Head of a division at the Minerals Office at the time “We don’t want your sort of people having access to this kind of wealth."

Since then the BMP have ignored reasoned argument for responsible small scale mining. They have hired lawyers to construct erroneous interpretations of Danish laws to cover up their behaviour and to protect the vested interests of TNG. The same lawyer also instructed the Crown Prosecution Service to prosecute local people and have offered to drop charges against miners willing to sign paperwork stating they will not mine again, issued fines against those who would not take the bribe and have hidden behind the facade of Danish reason and civility.

The Day of Eternal Light

The 21st June is the day Greenland almost got its independence. The BBC news wire that morning headlined with the following:

“The Arctic island of Greenland is assuming self-rule, in the latest step towards independence from Denmark. The move follows a referendum on greater autonomy in November. It will see Greenland take a greater share of revenues from its natural resources. The local government is taking control of the police and the courts. Greenlandic - or Kalaallisut - becomes the official language."

As I wandered around Nuuk I met many members of the new parliament. The finance minister Akitsinnguaq Olsen in particular was friendly, engaging, and openly interested in talking about the future of the mineral resource. She had heard the story of the Ruby protests and that Inuit had been arrested. We talked. This was an extraordinary breath of fresh air compared to my experience with politics in the UK.

The Bureaucrats

On the 22nd the small-scale miners and myself met with the BMP. The BMP are the government agency responsible for administrating Greenland's mineral wealth. The new energy minister Ove Karl Berthelsen instructed to make sure the Union voice was heard and reflected in the new mineral law being drafted. This was a significant breakthrough. Up until the recent change of government, members of the Union had been treated as criminals and were deliberately marginalised by the ethnic Danish BMP administration. There is no irony here. Justice is her own mistress and will eventually find a way to flow through the deserts of iniquity.

At our meeting it quickly became clear some things had changed and others had not since my encounter with BMP officials the previous year. On one side of the table sat Jorn Skov Nielsen the Director of the BMP who to date had refused to talk to the Union, Jens Hessendhal the lawyer whose fidgeting and fiddling throughout the meeting was very off putting. Also a geologist, another lawyer and two young men who were caseworkers had joined us. The scene was set: Six white Danish men and the Union who were a mixture of local small scale miners, a female journalist, an Inuit activist and myself.

Jorn Skov Nielsen instantly seized the agenda by outlining the nature of the discussions. This is usual when people are not in control. I could see he and some of his team did not enjoy the situation they had been ordered to attend. He talked about the new law, how he wanted the Union to have input, how there was only a short deadline and they would give us all a copy of the new draft law within two weeks but only in Danish and Kalaallsuit. In short he expected this group to read, understand, officially comment on and follow through on the writing of a new mineral law within a four-week period. The government may have changed but the institutional blindness and lack of respect for the local people and their culture manifested in what I viewed as the superiority the BMP felt based upon its historical power over the local people.

I asked a series of questions:

“What were his team's experience in small-scale mining issues?” "None", he replied.

“Who are you using to help you shape the small-scale mining aspect of the law?” "No-one", he replied.

“What budget have you set aside to secure equal rights and representation for local miners in the new law?” "None", he replied.

The ignorance of small-scale mining was further compounded when they talked about the irresponsible use of cyanide by small-scale miners. Firstly cyanide is only used in gold mining, secondly most small-scale miners actually use mercury and thirdly the Greenland miners are gemstone miners who use no chemicals at all.

This group of men had no experience and had not even bothered to find out about local small-scale mining. The only information they had apart from the criminal proceedings they had instigated was general book and anecdotal knowledge from their background in servicing large scale miners who generally despise small scale miners and hold deep seated prejudices against them. One member of the World Gold Council famously exploded at a meeting in London, "All small scale miners should be shot!”

Progress began when Nielsen admitted that they needed help. We offered them the services of an excellent lawyer Laura Barreto who has extensive knowledge in shaping responsible small scale mining law. Nielsen also agreed to pay the fees that will allow the Union to have a professional voice into the process. They talked about proceeding in ‘a spirit of good faith’.

The King of Ruby Mountain

Part of the allure of Greenland's majestic mountain scenery is its vast richness of gemstone that should be available to the local people. I cannot begin to describe the sense of sheer exhilaration you get when you climb a mountain. As we approach Ruby Mountain it stretches up to breathtaking snow capped heights and plunges into the depths of crystal clear waters that are fuelled by the 50,000-year old glaciers further up the fjord that are busy sculpting island playgrounds of refracting azure blue for Sea Trout, Seal and Whale.

Local Inuit and small scale miners exploring for Ruby in Greenland.

We jump off the boat onto the shoreline and the mountain climbs up and away from us, parted down the middle by a cascading waterfall. “Ruby, Ruby!” is shouted across the beach and one of my Inuit friends hands me a piece of stone that is peppered with Ruby crystal. Even the beach offers us its riches: Moonstone, Garnet, Ruby, Black Tourmaline to name a few of the gems we find within the first 10 minutes.

This is a typical field visit for Inuit ruby lovers. A boat trip to the area, backpacks loaded with food, small hammer and chisel, loupes for examining the crystal formation of discovered gems and pliers to extract them. This landscape is heaven sent for small-scale mining. Its locations are outstanding, terrain wild and rugged yet warmly inviting. I understand why my Inuit friends are so reverent of creation. They simply get it because they are not divorced from it.

The accusation levelled by large scale miners that local Greenland small scale miners would be bad for the environment is simply nonsense. Here are guys who actually clean the beach of stray fishing tackle, rope and plastic as a matter of course.

A ruby from the hand of the Inuit is not only radiant in its natural state but is infused with love, passion and deep reverence for creation. This is what I want to see set into our jewellery and see the joy of the Inuits mirrored in the face of our customers who want the opportunity to own a fair trade ruby from the Inuits. At the end of our time on Ruby Mountain, we gather around a small fire, eating traditional Inuit delicacy whale meat, to seal our friendships and our desire for fair trade rubies from Greenland.

A ruby from the Inuit is mined responsibly in an environmentally sensitive manner. It will also create jobs, forging a new national economic opportunity, and will become a symbol of nationhood. This is now possible given the new change of government in Greenland and the further devolution of powers away from Denmark. The King of Ruby Mountain is happy to share all he has, but not so keen to be owned by anyone. After all, what intelligent person can claim to own a mountain? Ridiculous.

Visit Cred Jewellery to find out more about their trailblazing story and view their beautiful fair trade jewellery online. If you want to help Greenlander's free their ruby, then SIGN THIS PETITION TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE.

NB: Since writing this article, Greg has informed us "the bureaucrats there have withdraw their offer of help to the miners, have hidden behind an audit office to justify their behavior and also we have uncovered evidence of collusion between the Bureaucrats, The Canadian Mining company and the Thailand gem market. It gets murkier all the time." We urge you to read this story, support Cred's trailblazing work and sign the petition. Thank you :-)