new sermitsiaq article - from uranium to greem

http://sermitsiaq.gl/erhverv/article88231.ece?lang=EN

"Plans for a mine at Kvane Mountain could turn out to be more about providing green energy solutions than the risks of radioactive pollution"

New estimates have indicated that Kvane Mountain is rich in Rare Earth Oxides (REO), such as zinc, uranium oxide and natrium fluoride.

REO present on Kvane Mountain can be used in strategically important super alloys, which are used to making turbine blades in gas generators and other green technologies. They are also of vital importance to the electronic industry, which utilises them in computers, mobile telephones and navigation equipment.

It is calculated that Kvane Mountain contains almost five million tonnes of REO, including nearly a million tonnes of zinc, 120,000 tonnes of uranium oxide and three million tonnes of natrium fluoride.

However, a proposed uranium mine on Kvane Mountain has been turned down by Ove Karl Berthelsen, minister for commerce and raw materials, due to its proximity to the town of Narsaq, western Greenland.

‘Kvane Mountain is situated so close to Narsaq that we simply can’t run the risk of radioactive pollution as the result of uranium mining, even as a by-product,’ said Berthelsen.

The new government has made it clear that it will not approve the project due to safety concerns, but said that the decision did not indicate it was unwilling to consider uranium by-product mining.

Now Greenland Mining and Energy have released a statement indicating that their application is in fact not for uranium, but for REO mining, with the necessary consequence of uranium being mined as a by-product due to its presence in the mountain.