3 August 2002.

Visit to the Nalunaq Gold Mine

1. The Church Steeple
2. Nalunaq Gold Mine
3. Graphite Mine
4. "The Saw Teeth" mountain (Savtakkerne) - on the island of Sermersôq.
5. Nanortalik
6. Tasermiut Fjord (a mountaineering el dorado)
7. From here photos were taken of The Church Steeple and The Saw Teeth
8. Sarqâ Fjord

From Nanortalik (point 5) we sailed to the landing place for the Nalunaq Gold Mine (point 2). Two cars from the mining company picked us up and drove us the five miles up to the campsite, on the valley floor approximately 230 meters above sea level. Although Nalunaq means something like ” a place that is difficult to find” or 'go out and look for rocks' we were guided to it without any difficulties.

Nalunaq Gold Mine campsite.

Molasse basin

The red line (right picture) shows the dip of the molasse-type sandstone (later metamorphosed into "meta-arkose) deposited in a marginal basin in the Ketilidian orogeny and overlying the gold mine host rocks (a thrust sheet).

The access to the mine is at 350 meters above sea level.

Entrance to the gold mine. The host rock is amphibolite (dark metamorphic rock, and as the names says, containing amphiboles).

Gold vein inside the mine. (Photo by Roger Baker)

Searching for visible gold in the stockpile.

Gold on quarts. Width of picture ca. 5 cm.

Graphite Mine. On the island Amitsoq there is an abandoned graphite mine. Graphite was mined here in the period 1915-25, and remains of the equipment used for the extraction can still be seen. Graphite schists in folded migmatite zone.