From Arctic hamlet to globally significant settlement
On the southwestern edge of Greenland, on the quiet Arsuk Fjord, lies Ivittuut – today an abandoned, windswept settlement. Yet once, this place was a center of global industrial history.
The reason for this was an extraordinary mineral – cryolite.
The Inuit of the region knew the white, easily crumbling rock, but did not use it in daily life, focusing instead on hunting. At the end of the 18th century, cryolite was described scientifically for the first time by a Dane. At the beginning of the 19th century, the researcher Karl Ludwig Giesecke classified the large deposit at Ivittuut and recognized its geological significance.
Mid-19th Century: Industrial Mining Begins
In the mid-19th century, industrial mining began. From 1854, and later under a Danish monopoly company, Ivittuut developed into a mining town. Demand exploded when the new aluminum smelting process was invented. Cryolite became an indispensable component of the modern metal industry, as it enabled the industrial production of aluminum – a fundamental material used in new technologies such as machinery and later in airplanes.
Industry, World War II, and the Withdrawal of People
For decades, Ivittuut was the only significant source of natural cryolite in the world. The deposit was so pure and abundant that it became a strategic resource.
During World War II, this importance reached its peak. Since aluminum was crucial for aircraft construction, cryolite was considered a critical material. The United States therefore secured the region militarily and established Base Bluie West Seven near the mine on April 1, 1943. This was intended to prevent enemy powers from accessing the resource. After the war, the base was handed over to Denmark and today is called Kangilinnguit/Grønnedal.
After the war, mining at Ivittuut continued, but as the 20th century progressed, the town’s end drew closer. The deposit was no longer economically viable, and synthetic cryolite increasingly became an alternative. In the early 1960s, active mining was halted, although the remaining stockpiles were still shipped until the mine was permanently closed in 1987, ending all cryolite exports from Ivittuut.
With the end of mining, the people also left. The buildings there slowly fell into ruin, and nature gradually reclaimed its space. What was once an internationally significant settlement became a ghost town.
The Return of a Forgotten Resource to the Political Debate
More than three decades after the mine’s closure, Ivittuut unexpectedly made headlines again. A controversial 2025 documentary highlights the economic significance of the cryolite mining at the time and examines how the profits from resource use were distributed.
According to the documentary’s research, cryolite exports generated considerable revenues over more than a century, though the benefits for Greenland itself remain unclear. The documentary sparked an intense political debate: some see Ivittuut as a possible example of colonial inequalities, while others caution against hasty conclusions, pointing out that high revenues could be offset by substantial mining and transport costs.
Regardless of the assessment, this discussion demonstrated how historical resource stories can resonate into the present and how unresolved questions about old power structures can trigger new political dynamics today.
Marcel Schütz, PolarJournal