Ivittuut

Ivittuut
The cryolite mine in Ivittuut in 1940
The cryolite mine in Ivittuut in 1940
Ivittuut is located in Greenland
Ivittuut
Ivittuut
Location within Greenland
Coordinates: 61°12′30″N 48°10′10″W / 61.20833°N 48.16944°W / 61.20833; -48.16944
State Kingdom of Denmark
Constituent country Greenland
Municipality Sermersooq
Abandoned1980s
Time zoneUTC-03

Ivittuut (formerly, Ivigtût) (Kalaallisut: "Grassy Place"[1]) is an abandoned mining town near Cape Desolation in southwestern Greenland, in the modern Sermersooq municipality on the ruins of the former Norse Middle Settlement.

Ivittuut is one of the few places in the world so far discovered to have naturally occurring cryolite (Na3AlF6, sodium aluminum fluoride), an important agent in modern aluminum extraction.