This article appeared in Sermitsiaq.AG. Tuesday, 28 March 2023 after an interview with Jørgen Hammeken Holm. Not difficult to see where his sentiments lie.
Kuannersuit: The dispute continues - final rejection ready in a few weeks Energy Transition Minerals has submitted a consultation response to Naalakkersuisut's draft refusal of an extraction permit at Kuannersuit.In this way, the final touches can be put on a final refusal, which the company has, however, one year to appeal.
Energy Transition Minerals submitted a response to a hearing on the refusal to extract minerals at Kuannersuit at Narsaq. This means that Naalakkersuisut can deliver its final answer to the application within three weeks.This is stated by head of department in the Department for Raw Materials and the Justice Area, Jørgen Hammeken Holm to Sermitsiaq.AG. Back in December, Energy Transition Minerals had their prospecting permit renewed, and the company believes that this is an expression that the law on prohibition of mining and prospecting for uranium does not apply to their mining permit. Continued refusal of extraction permit but the head of department categorically rejects this.- The extension has nothing to do with the Uranium Act.It is normal procedure to extend exploration permits if a company complies with the requirements to have a certain amount of costs for exploration.They (Energy Transition Minerals Ltd., ed.) can easily live up to that.The reason is not in the Uranium Act, he asserts.The head of the department also states that exploration permits granted before the law came into force are not covered by the law, but that exploitation permits that must be issued after the law has been adopted are covered by the ban on exploration and extraction of uranium.
Too high a content of uranium Naalakkersuisut has justified the refusal in the draft that has been sent for consultation with the fact that permission cannot be granted for extraction, as the content in the mine includes more than 100 ppm uranium, which was prohibited in the uranium legislation from 2021.READ ALSO:
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The company has therefore now sent a consultation response with objections to the refusal, both on factual objections and on the legal aspects of the decision. But the consultation response does not seem to change the outcome, believes the head of department.- It is correct that they have submitted a consultation response to our draft refusal of an exploration permit.Immediately, there is nothing new in their comprehensive answer that can change the attitude we from the department give to Naalakkersuisut.Therefore, I expect that within three weeks we will have a proposal ready for the Naalakkersuisut to refuse an investigation.
Can appeal the decision:
When the final refusal is delivered, the company has one year to appeal the decision. Energy Transition Minerals continues to fight on several fronts to get their permits in order.They have submitted a supplementary application for exploitation.In the new proposal, the company will mine the ore and separate the uranium from the minerals in order to put the uranium back in the rock, where in the first project it was planned that the uranium should be extracted and sold. The question in dispute is whether extraction is when you dig the ore out of the ground, when it has been in the processing plant, or when you sell it.- Exploitation and extraction are words in the same category, but it is not 100 percent clear in the law.We clearly believe that exploitation is as soon as you dig something out of the ground, says Jørgen Hammeken Holm. The arbitration case is running side-by-side: In addition to the application for extraction, the company has filed an arbitration case based on the effect of the Uranium Act from 2021 on the company's rights regarding the existing exploration permit, and the right to an exploitation permit.- We continue to fight with the arbitration case, which we still hope will be rejected, concludes Jørgen Hammeken Holm.
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