Greenland prepares legislation to ban uranium exploration and mining

20 Sep 2021 (Last Updated September 20th, 2021 10:02)

The Kvanefjeld mine, which has an initial operational life of 37 years, is expected to produce rare earth minerals and uranium.

Greenland’s newly formed government is reportedly preparing legislation that would ban mining at uranium mines and cease development of the Kvanefjeld mine.

Owned by Australian firm Greenland Minerals, the Kvanefjeld mine is claimed to be one of the world’s biggest rare-earth project.

A public hearing ended this week on the project, which has an initial operational life of 37 years.

Located near the southern town of Narsaq, the project is expected to produce all commercially important rare earth elements, including neodymium, praseodymium, terbium and dysprosium, as well as uranium.

If extracted, the project’s uranium reserves are believed to adversely affect the country’s environment.

The new bill would also include the option to ban the exploration of other radioactive minerals such as thorium. The bill is planned to be passed in the upcoming months.

Greenland Mineral Resources Minister Naaja Nathanielsen was reported by Reuters in an interview as saying that Greenland’s left-leaning government intends to ban exploration on deposits that have more than 100 parts per minute (ppm) uranium concentration, which is considered very low-grade by the World Nuclear Association.

In April 2021, this government came to power following a campaign against the Kvanefjeld project development.

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