Cryolite and the Mine at Ivigtut, West Greenland

• Published in: Polar Record
• Main Author: Elbo, J. G.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Cambridge University Press (CUP) 1948
• Subjects: Greenland; kola peninsula; Polar Record; Siberia
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s003224740003761x; https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S003224740003761X

Cryolite is a rare mineral which is only mined in Greenland and is one of the most important assets in- Greenland economy. It is grey-white and translucent, almost like ice when wet, a fluoride of sodium and aluminium with the chemical formula Na 3 AlF 6 . The only commercial source is at Ivigtut in south-west Greenland, whilst the only two other known occurrences—at Pikes Peak, Colorado, and Miass in the Urals—are both small and impure. Lately, however, the Russians have claimed that the geological structure of Kol'ski Poluostrov (Kola Peninsula) would indicate the likelihood of cryolite being found there, and there are also reports of a mine in active production in East Siberia on the Manchurian border.