There no no Uranium for EPM But it’s not the end of the road for...

There no no Uranium for EPM


But it’s not the end of the road for rare earths in Greenland.

The future looks bright for explorer Eclipse Metals (ASX:EPM) which discovered a 50-year-old historic drill core with REE potential at the Gronnedal-ika area of its historical Ivittuut cryolite mine.

Rare earth potential at Ivittuut

The core catalogued six diamond holes where historical exploration has identified anomalous rare earth element content, but the area hasn’t been systematically explored so the company believes there’s potential for untapped REE.

Executive chairman Carl Popal said he’s confident that company will have no issues proceeding with the project in Greenland, with the company securing approval to commence fieldwork in July.

“It’s their country, they’ve decided to run it in a certain way, and for us, we respect them, we’re there as a commercial entity, we’re trying to extract natural resources for the greater good, for our shareholders, and they need it for their economy,” he said.

“We don’t have any uranium there, and we don’t have any issues in that regard.”

Minerals identified within the complex to date include apatite, monazite, stronianite and synchysite which host light rare earths (LREE), as well as zircon and monazite which host heavy rare earths (HREE).

Greenland still a prime jurisdiction

Gronnedal is recognised as one of the prime REE targets in Greenland by the Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland (GEUS) along with Kvanefjeld and Kringlerne (owned by Tanbreez).

“We’ve just started in Greenland on the rare earths but there’s a lot of potential – and there’s a lot of academic work that tells us that we’re in the right jurisdiction,” Popal said.

“GEUS classifies Gronnedal in the highest standards for rare earths within that area and, on top of that, we’re fortunate to have the Ivittuut site which has got the tailings, the ore in the pit, the cryolite-fluorite and most importantly, the quartz inside the pit.

“Greenland has a lot of potential from our perspective for developing a project, like Ivittuut, we’re so close to Europe where industrial minerals are in high demand.

“The additional bonus of the rare earth is separate play and gives us an edge in the rare earth market.”