There is a great deal of contradictory information online about “real” vs “fake” Nuummite. Most metaphysical shops will focus on the energy of the stones or strictly the visual appearance. By contrast, Moonrise Crystals approaches this question as scientifically as possible.

The main problem with Nuummite is that people compare really nice museum-quality collector’s pieces with tumbled stones and then make lofty pronouncements about whether or not something is “fake” or “real”. But, tumbled stones are inherently made out of lower-quality rocks, often the very same rocks that surround really nice collectors’ pieces. They don’t look the same. For example, compare a jewelry-quality translucent Ruby vs a tumbled opaque Ruby. Which one is “real” and which is “fake” based on these pictures? In fact, both are “real”. The difference is the quality.

Nuummite Gem is this nuummite real
Nuummite Stone is this nuummite real

Most high-quality collectors’ pieces of Nuummite show elongated flashing streaks, which can come in a variety of colors. Most tumbled Nuummite stones, by contrast, have shorter bronze flecks. That doesn’t necessarily mean it’s “fake” or from a different region – it may simply a question of quality. Truly fabulous pieces of Nuummite, are rarely tumbled!  To further complicate matters – “Nuummite” isn’t actually a geological, mineralogical or petrological name. You won’t find it listed in any geology book or on a geology website. From a geological perspective, Nuummite is a metamorphosed rock composed mainly of Gedrite and anthophyllite.

The name Nummite is in fact a marketing name. It was created by the Town Council of Nuuk, Greenland, to describe the stone found near their town. The government of Greenland has granted the company Nuummite Nuuk A/S, an exploration concession to mine Nuummite in the Nuuk area and to manufacture and sell Nuummite jewelry. But for every piece of jewelry-quality Nuummite they mine, there is also a great deal of lesser quality Nuummite that is also dug up. These rocks are then sold to other manufactures, including tumblers.

Black flashy stones can be found in numerous locations around the world, and some of them look very similar to Nuummite. In some cases, the lookalike material is even a metamorphosed rock composed mainly of Gedrite and Anthophyllite – just like Nuummite! Likewise, some of these stones have metaphysical marketing names too – like Copperite (from India) and Black Galaxy Granite (from California). Occasionally, someone will sell “Nuummite from China” or “Blue Nuummite from Russia”. They may lookalike, they may even be similar geologically. But what makes a Nuummite, “real” is that it’s from Greenland.

Originally, my Nuummite came from a tumbling company in South Africa. The owner of that lapidary buys directly from mines and told me these stones are from Greenland. However, in 2020, one of my goals at the Tucson Gem Show was to find a better source for Nuummite, preferably buying directly from Greenland. The island of Greenland is owned by Denmark, and my source is a Danish prospector who deals primarily in stones from Denmark, Greenland, Norway, Sweden and the UK. Not only is the sourcing better, the new Nuummite is a much higher-quality too!