To all supporters and jewellers linked to FJA.

Below is an unedited note from Niels Madsen, one of the founders of the 16 August Union, highlighting the terrible plight of the local arctic people who are faced with a worsening situation in regards to mineral policy. As you will see the threat of new laws allowing the immigration of thousands of Chinese workers is on the table. The Bureau for Mineral and petroleum have been selling off mineral licenses to the highest bidders for what appears to be no royalty payments.

The apartheid over gemstones continues as Jorn Skov Nielsen and his technocrats continue to marginalise the local people from being able to make a living out of the gemstones they walk over.

Although the information is still  unclear, the behaviour of marginalisation, discrimination and economic injustice is consistent with the policies I have witnessed first hand on historic trips to Greenland. Therefore to bring the situation totally up to date FJA intends to send a post-graduate researcher to Greenland next April to document in detail the injustices and bring them to the attention of the worlds media and authorities. Please stand ready to help, Many thanks and lets raise our voices Greg and Marc.

The development up here is going VERY fast and as you know, our politicians are not aware of anything but a few job’s.
 
We have a new LSM bill rushed through, again, again. This time with a number of other laws. LSM, SSM and some adjustment’s in the rest of the system, for the thousands of mainly Chinese workers. It’s up for debate (?) in the parliament, on the 22nd, and they will vote on it, already on the 27nd. We can hope they will demand more time, but it doesn’t seem that way. We’ll have a better sense of the situation after the 22nd.
 
And for us local’s, Jorn Skov Nielsen once again, won’t to give us the right to trade for 100.000 DKK (10.000£ 20.000$), but only for LOW-value rocks. No Diamond, Ruby, Sapphire, bla bla, you know the drill, pretty much everything over hardness 7. But they have included our National stone Tugtopite, under those minerals we can under no circumstance’s collect or sell, not even get a SSM license on. And they write that they might include other “valuable” mineral’s along the way.

The best of the best Ruby (True North Gem’s) is valued from under $3 a gram and down. How much more valuable is Gold? Silver?
 
I hate being the bringer of bad new’s, but this one I can’t help myself for bringing up. Below is a link to a story on the condition’s the soapstone and bone carver’s in Nuuk. I can’t help wondering how far we would have been without these troubles TNG and other’s have brought us. I would have been learning to cut Diamond’s already in ’09, after a couple of year’s of cutting Ruby. And with your help many other’s after me. Now it look’s like this:
http://sermitsiaq.ag/node/140405
They don’t even have electricity, or anything for the dust than the draught.