Gemstone Glossary

Nuummit

Nuummit is an extremely rare mineral with a rather old age. Its occurrence is limited almost exclusively to the Nuuk region of southwestern Greenland from where it gets its name. Other minor occurrences of Nuummit include Spain and southwest of Douglas, Converse County, Wyoming, USA.


The area of Nuuk where Nuummit occurs is the so-called ‘Isuakasia’ iron ore, the origin of which dates back almost four billion years. Apart from Nuummit, the region also possesses a wealth of other precious stones such as the beautiful and much sought after Tugtupite as well as the oldest precious stone in the world, Greenlandite. Both are also almost exclusively a Greenlandic phenomenon. The Isuakasia is situated close to the Inland Ice Cap which is very difficult to access. For this reason (combined with their rarity), these minerals will never become available in large quantities.

Nuummit occurs in brown (including golden brown), green and nearly black with remarkable rainbow flashes. It has a hardness of 5 to 6 and a Specific Gravity of approximately 2.8. Nuummit is a foliated metamorphic rock, approximately 3.8 billion years old. It is composed of Magnesium, Iron, Silicon, Oxygen and Hydrogen (Mg,Fe)7Si8O22(OH)2. By virtue of its age Nuummit is unique - there quite simply is no other comparable material of the same age anywhere on the planet.

Nuummit has been used rather widely for untold centuries as beads and ornamental stones, however has just recently been named as such in the gemstone market. It has since been fashioned into extremely attractive cabochons and miscellaneous shaped pieces for jewelry.