More Pressure on GoG from prospective miners . ETM not the only...

More Pressure on GoG from prospective miners . ETM not the only company with problems.
Sermitsiaq - Thursday, 09 July 2024
Mining Law
Fencker criticizes Naalakkersuisut for lack of will.
Member of Inatsisartut Kuno Fencker (S) is not satisfied with answers from Naalakkersuisut about case processing times at the Norwegian Natural Resources Agency.He questions why companies with permits give up without having extracted minerals for which they are permitted.- We must recognize that our country's location presents challenges, and the mining companies may therefore need other solutions than countries with easy access to infrastructure.Here, Naalakkersuisut must step in and have political weight, he points out.
Member of Inatsisartut, Kuno Fencker (S) is far from satisfied with the answers to his § 37 question (spm.129/2024, ed.) about the processing time for applications for activities from mining companies that have extraction permits, and about whether Naalakkersuisut has plans to shorten the case processing times from the self-government.
In the response, Naalakkersuisoq for raw materials, Naaja H. Nathanielsen (IA), explains, among other things, that no measurements are made of the processing time for activity applications under exploitation permits, as the applications are different and take place in an ongoing process.
At the same time, Naalakkersuisoq explains that the company used as an example in the paragraph 37 question, Lumina, had applied for processing of extracted minerals in the USA on 20 June 2023, which Naalakkersuisut refused on 15 January 2024.
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Unfortunately, I have not received an adequate answer. I must state that, among other things, Naalakkersuisut has answered with half-truths and has chosen to make use of technicalities that neither Greenland nor the mining companies can get richer from.
- What do you mean by half-truths?-
In my Section 37 questions, I refer to the company Lumina as an example. The company has appeared before Inatsisartut's Business and Raw Materials Committee on 30 May 2024. The company has expressed concern about slow administrative processes at Naalakkersuisut. We know that in its efforts to get started in earnest, the company has applied to have the business basis approved back in December 2021 and again in December 2022. But Naalakkersuisut replies that the company has applied on 20 June 2023, which Naalakkersuisut refused on 15 January 2024.
Consequences of heavy administrative process should be looked atAmong other things,
Kuno Fencker wants Naalakkersuisut to direct their attention to whether the heavy administrative process may have caused companies to turn the key:-
The fact that even companies that have been granted an extraction permit have such great challenges with the case processing from the public authorities, and where they are met with refusal after refusal, does not provide momentum in any way. If we want mining in this country, we have to recognize that we have different conditions.
We cannot continue to equate ourselves with other countries that do not have the same logistical and infrastructural challenges as us, he points out and continues:- Why are there so many companies that have had big plans for mining, but had to turn the key?
We must have clarified that question.
Greater political weight and determination are needed. I can easily understand that in all respects we must ensure that our country gets the greatest possible benefit from the activities and that there is a need for control and monitoring. But from there to drown the possibilities for technicalities is in no way beneficial for the country, the country's credibility and not least the companies that, after spending a lot of money, finally throw in the towel, notes Kuno Fencker.
Announcements are requested
At the same time, Kuno Fencker requests the orders that Naalakkersuisut will have to work with after a new mining law is adopted in 2023. The orders are long overdue, he believes:- I have not yet seen any announcements regarding the Mining Act. I absolutely believe that we need transparent processes. After all, we require the companies to play with open cards, but at the same time we play with closed cards against them and largely leave the decision-making processes to take place on an administrative level.