In the lead up to the election, the Inuit Ataqatigiit party expressed an anti-uranium position, which has been reaffirmed since the election win.
While Kvanefjeld’s development strategy is focused on the production of rare earths, it also incorporates the by-production of zinc, uranium and fluorspar, with the uranium occurring at relatively low grades compared to most primary uranium mines.
Greenland Minerals noted that while the uranium was not of great economic significance to the Kvanefjeld project, the revenues generated by the uranium and other by-products would serve to reduce the rare earth production costs.
Greenland Minerals on Friday pointed out that the company had been operating in the region since 2007, under all successive Greenland governments, and that the environmental impact assessment and the social impact assessment for the proposed Kvanefjeld project had been accepted by the Greenland government as meeting the requirements for public consultation, which is expected to run until June 1.
Furthermore, the company noted that it has at all times operated within Greenland’s Minerals Act, and that its application for an exploitation license for the Kvanefjeld project followed a development strategy which was shaped by extensive stakeholder engagement and both community and government level.
The ASX-listed company said that it was hoping to work with the newly elected government to progress the development of the Kvanefjeld project.