Greenland looks to enable uranium exploitation By: Henry Lazenby 27th November 2012 Updated 1 hour 21 minutes ago
TORONTO (miningweekly.com) – Greenland’s Parliament recently showed unanimous support from all political parties to fast-track an independent review to finalise the government driven, multi-year phase of information gathering on uranium production and associated issues.
This review included aspects that relate to Greenland's foreign policy, which is managed by Denmark. Danish Foreign Minister Villy Sovndal was present in Greenland last Wednesday and said Denmark would support Greenland in pursuing uranium production, but noted that it was Denmark's responsibility to ensure that international conventions, such as nonproliferation, were respected.
Investigations were already underway in Denmark, led by the Foreign Affairs Ministry, into foreign policy protocols that would be required to facilitate uranium production in Greenland.
ASX-listed Greenland Minerals and Energy (GMEL) said the recent political developments in Greenland had a direct bearing on its fully Kvanefjeld rare-earth elements/uranium/zinc project in the country.
Uranium is expected to be a significant by-product of rare-earths production from Kvanefjeldand by-product revenues are expected to provide Kvanefjeld with a highly competitive cost structure and would be a significant economic advantage over rare-earth-only operations.
“The development regarding uranium policy is therefore of major relevance to projected global rare earth supply, with Greenland positioning to play a key role,” GMEL said on Tuesday.
The company said the information campaign undertaken by the Greenland government had already generated a solid knowledge base to evaluate and effectively manage potential uranium production in Greenland. In addition to a compilation and dissemination of technical information, government and key stakeholder representatives have undertaken visits to Canada to learn directly about the regulation and operation of uranium production, and the effective management of environmental and social impacts.
This latest political advancement follows a number of key licensing developments for the Kvanefjeld project over the last two years. In Greenland, uranium is regulated at the license level, rather than under the Mining Act, and in late 2011, uranium was incorporated into GMEL's exploration license for Kvanefjeld.
This effectively provided the company with the right to apply for exploitation rights in within Greenland's broader mining regulatory framework.
“The show of support from all political parties highlights a coherent approach between GMEL and the Greenland government in advancing Kvanefjeld toward mine development,” the company said.
In December, GMEL would be joining a Greenland government delegation headed by Premier Kuupik Kleist on a visit to South Korea, organised through the Danish Embassy, as part of an ongoing engagement strategy with potential development partners.
Meanwhile, Mining Weekly Online recently reported business intelligence firm GlobalData said that reserves of gold, diamonds, zinc, platinum, nickel, iron and rare-earth elements have come within reach of geological land mapping technologies in Greenland as a result of receding ice.
Greenland’s Bureau of Minerals and Petroleum has awarded 150 exploration licences, compared with only a handful a decade ago. However, with the 57 000 Greenlanders still mulling opportunities that offer rewards but risk harming a pristine environment, not a single mining or oil project has yet got off the ground.
Edited by: Creamer Media Reporter
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