Nunavut Carvingstone Program Highlights:First Two Years in Kivalliq & Qikiqtaaluk

2010-2013 NU Carvingstone Deposit Evaluation Program

Thank you to our Sponsors

Large boulders and untouched deposit

The Tidewater Result“Bringing Back New Stone”

Repulse Bay’s Naujaat Deposit

Qulliks are the traditional seal-oil burning stone implement used for cooking, heating and light.The modern equivalent requires a generator, kitchen stove, furnace, electrical wiring, lights… and no seals.For centuries to millenium, qulliks were essential to the success of the Inuit culture spanning the Arctic.The advent of modern stone artistry saw Inuit turning to their soft stone exploitation already in place.

The Commodity? of Carvingstone

Standards of Excellence Are: consistency, toughness,holds fine detail, good colour,

polishes well, available in large blocks

Excellent softer, 2.0 - 2.5 Mohs Scale of HardnessGood medium, 2.5+, lacks somewhat with a standard

Fair harder, 3.0+, lacks a standard or morePoor still takes a file, variable, small pieces

The carbide hand-file is an experienced carver’s testing tool.

Material is most often compared to Kaniqsuqutaq (Korok Inlet) stone which is of excellent quality.

Hand-mined, never blasted. Use of explosives will ruin carvingstone.

Size of Carvingstone Deposits

Carvingstone Deposit Size

Upper and Lower Quarries at Korok Inlet

Kangiqsuqutak QullimiActive Upper Quarry at Korok Inlet

Kovic Deposit, 93 miles inland from Repulse BayTakes a file wherever touched, 1 mile long and 150 feet wide

In Nunavut, Soapstone is most often Serpentinite

Serpentinite (Soapstone) is Magnetic

Asbestos is a mineral found in certain rocks.

Alternate Stone

Tatsituya is unique, a marble deposit altered completely to apple-green, non-magnetic serpentine at Aberdeen Bay

The Deeper, The Better

2010 - 2011 Carvingstone Kivalliq Summary

Kivalliq Carvers and Guides of 2010 - 2011

2011 Carvingstone Summary for South Baffin Region

South Baffin Carvers and Guides of 2011

2012 Program of Carvingstone Site Evaluations

2013 Program of Carvingstone Site Evaluations

Qujannamiq, Mat’na, Koana, Merci and Thank You!