THE GEMSTONE LIBRARY
Nuummite (Greenland)
Common search spellings include nuummite, nuumite, nummite and Nuummit. These spelling variants refer to the name; Greenland and Finland remain separate locality guides.
Nuummite is a dark, iridescent rock associated with the Nuuk region of Greenland. In a polished piece, streaks of gold or blue can appear as the stone moves in the light. The name means “from Nuuk.”
What is Nuummite?
Nuummite is a rock made chiefly of the closely related amphibole minerals anthophyllite and gedrite, rather than a single mineral species. Their very thin alternating layers create the colored reflections called iridescence. The effect may be faint on rough rock and much easier to see after cutting and polishing. Gold and blue are common; violet, green and reddish tones can also occur.
A stone from deep time
The Greenland material occurs around Nuuk in rocks more than three billion years old. Those rocks have been changed by heat and pressure since their formation. The Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland (GEUS) documents the gem material's recognition in 1982, although similar rock from the area had been collected much earlier. The Greenland locality is part of this page's identity; a dark stone with colorful flashes alone does not establish its geographic origin.
Looking at a polished piece
Turn a Nuummite palm stone or sphere slowly under a lamp to see how the elongated flashes appear and disappear. Each cut can show a different arrangement of color. GEUS lists the material at about 6 on the Mohs hardness scale. Protect a polished surface from harder stones and sharp impacts, and wipe it gently with a soft cloth.
Greenland Nuummite in Memory Lane
These photographs and video stills show the palms, spheres and bracelets catalogued by Soul Body Gems as Greenland Nuummite. The two video stills link to their original Memory Lane entries.
Memory Lane images and video stills © 2025 Soul Body Gems. These photographed pieces are presented with the shop's Greenland provenance designation; the page does not claim an individual laboratory identification.
Explore the geology
- GEUS · Nuummit — composition, Nuuk occurrence, color and history.
- Appel and Jensen, Gems & Gemology (1987) — original study of Greenland's iridescent orthoamphibole.
- GIA · Structures Behind the Spectacle — explanation of the thin layers behind Nuummite's iridescence.