https://taz.de/Rohstoffe-fuer-die-Transformation/!5947935/
raw materials for the transformation:Greenland relies on rare earthsA huge deposit of the coveted metals is stored on the Arctic island. With the current demand, an expensive exploitation would also be worthwhile.Companies have been exploring the deposits on Greenland for decades: helicopters with rock samplesPhoto: Danita Delimont/imagoSTOCKHOLM taz | It is intended to break China's monopoly position and at the same time create dazzling prospects for investors - this is what the Australian mining company Tanbreez says about its new mining project: it wants to mine rare earths . And that in Greenland, where the project raises hopes that the income from mining mineral resources could provide the economic basis that is still lacking for independence from Denmark. More than half of the global reserves of the coveted metals are said to be located here. The project is scheduled to be implemented as early as 2024.Killavaat Alannguat is the name of the mountain range with mineral deposits. It is located in the area of Kujalleq, the southernmost municipality of Greenland. The investigations have been going on for 22 years, hundreds of boreholes have been drilled and around 2,000 analyzes have been carried out. Now Tanbreez Mining claims to have found 15 rare earth metals here . "And we've only explored about 10 percent of the potential ore area," said Tanbreez founder Greg Barnes, who is also a geologist, in an interview with Greenlandic media.AdvertisementSimilar to the state US Geological Survey, the Canadian information service "Mining Intelligence" estimates the occurrence as currently the world's largest rare earth project . The authors also make a connection with the motives of former US President Donald Trump, who announced in August 2019 that he would “buy” Greenland. Because this offer to Copenhagen was made shortly after a meeting between Barnes and representatives of the US administration. Barnes had already raved to the Danish newspaper Information in 2013 about the deposit, which would enable a mine operation "that could in principle be operated for 10,000 years".Three years ago, Tanbreez received conditional approval from the Greenlandic government to "mine for the elements found in the mineral eudialyte" in an area of 18 square kilometers at Killavaat Alannguat. Tanbreez was unable to meet the deadline set for the end of 2022 for submitting further documents and providing security, which is why the deadline has been extended to the end of 2023. In May, Tanbreez CEO Christopher Messina had expressed the hope of being able to deliver what was missing in the course of the summer, but at the same time also referred to unresolved financing issues. There are still "uncertainties that the financial market doesn't like," he said.Surprisingly little criticismUnlike another mining project, the Kuannersuit deposit, which is also operated by an Australian company , there were no major concerns about the Tanbreez plans either from Greenlandic politicians or among the population. Both mineral deposits are located in one and the same geological formation only 16 kilometers apart and only separated by a fjord. But in Kuannersuit not only the mining of rare earths, but also of uranium was planned. The Killavaat Alannguat deposit is considered "uranium free".It doesn't seem that clear at all. First, Eudialyte itself is slightly radioactive. On the other hand, Tanbreez announced in 2015 that uranium had also been found in the licensed investigation area and had already signaled an interest in mining it at the time.AdvertisementSticking point uraniumFor environmental organizations like Greenland's anti-nuclear NGO Urani Naamik and Denmark's Noah - Friends of the Earth, that's enough reason for doubt. Is there really no intention of eventually extracting uranium? And wouldn't the planned eudialyte open-cast mine be associated with possible health hazards due to the release of radioactive particles? One criticizes an overall inadequate factual basis: the hearings on which the approval granted in 2020 is based had already taken place in 2013. New developments and findings are therefore not taken into account."Both Tanbreez and the authorities describe the mineral deposits at Killavaat Alannguat as huge when they market the project to international investors," criticizes Urani Naamik's Mariane Paviasen. "But when assessing the environmental impact, they are classified as much smaller." There is also no real impact analysis, although the planned mining area is close to the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Kujataa. And although the Arctic nature is particularly vulnerable, any environmental destruction is permanent and once a development has started, it can no longer be reversed.AdvertisementIn Kujalleq, on the other hand, with its 6,300 inhabitants, there are hopes for the promised 80 jobs, which the mayor announced on the municipality's website in 2020 as "imminent". The real sticking point of the whole Tanbreez project is probably the further processing of the eudialyte, which is apparently only to be mined, crushed and shipped on site. The rare earths have to be extracted from the eudialyte and separated in a complex process. So far, only plants in Russia and China have been able to do this. According to Barnes, a factory is now also planned in the USA.Big investment needsThe problem with almost all high-flying Greenlandic mining projects has been that, due to geographic, climatic and logistical conditions, mining mineral resources on the Arctic island is significantly more expensive than deposits in other regions. After the Aappaluttoq ruby mine had to close at the beginning of the year after six years of operation, not a single major mineral company is currently operating in Greenland, the newspaper Sermitsiaq concluded last week.A mining operation is therefore only worthwhile when the economy is favorable - or because the costs are considered secondary for political reasons or those of security of supply. This is currently the case with rare earths, which are essential for the transport and energy transition.At the same time, there is also the political level, and many politicians are growing impatient to finally get a decisive step closer to the desired independence of Greenland. Therefore, it does not seem impossible that even the legal ban on searching for and exploiting uranium deposits, which was decided two years ago , could be relaxed again.In fact, the social-democratic governing party Siumut decided at its party conference at the weekend to change its party program: The extraction of raw materials should also be possible if uranium is mined as a by-product. Restriction: There must be no health hazards for the local population. This contradicts the program of the governing coalition of the socialist Inuit Ataqatigiit and Siumut.Incidentally, Greenland and Denmark are also threatened with high claims for damages if the mining company Energy Transition Minerals should be successful in arbitration proceedings in Copenhagen. The uranium ban decided in November 2021 made it impossible for her to continue the Kuannersuit project. Two weeks ago, the group filed a lawsuit against the governments in Nuuk and Copenhagen. The damage suffered is estimated at "provisionally" 11.5 billion US dollars. What the company probably wants to achieve with this process: to get a mining permit after all.
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