Rare earths are in full focus! "The most important rare earth mine in the West" will stop developing Greenland is preparing to legislate a ban on mining China's mining partners have been frustrated

FX168 Financial Newspaper (Hong Kong) -- The Danish Autonomous Territory of Greenland changed politically earlier this year, with the main opposition party, the Inuit Ataqatigiit, winning, and the new government interviewed to indicate that it will not allow Chinese companies to invest in Greenland Minerals to exploit the most important Rare Earth deposits in the West. A number of foreign media quoted Greenland's minister of mineral resources as pointing out that the new government is preparing legislation to ban uranium mining and stop developing one of the world's largest rare earth mines.

The Kvanefjeld rare earth deposit, owned by Greenland Minerals and located near the southern town of Narsak, contains large amounts of rare earth metals and radioactive uranium that locals fear could damage the island's fragile environment if extracted. Greenland's new government, which overthrew the previous government in April after a campaign against the development of Kvanefjeld, gained popular trust and officially came to power.

Greenland's new government has said it will ban mining deposits with uranium concentrations of more than 100 parts per minute (PPM), which is considered very low by the World Nuclear Association. Mineral Resources Minister Naaja Nathanielsen mentioned in an interview with Reuters that what they know is that the background radiation in and around Narsak is quite high, which means that the project will conflict with the upcoming zero-tolerance policy for uranium mining.

Kvanefjeld received preliminary approval last year and was supposed to be expected to be finally approved under the previous administration. Mining companies have long campaigned for the right to mine rare earth deposits in Greenland, which the U.S. Geological Survey says has the world's largest deposits of undeveloped metals for everything from electric car batteries to missiles.

Chinese partner Shenghe Resources, which holds about a 10 percent stake in Greenland Mining, participated in local community meetings in February but did not attend the August and September meetings due to the political nature of the meetings.

CEO John Mair, whose company has spent more than $100 million preparing for the project. He told the media on Friday that he believed his company still had "a valid right to apply for a mining license for the project under Greenland law." Locals fear a potential lawsuit against Greenland will hurt its ability to attract investment in an emerging mining sector they see as key to economic growth.

Meier went on to add that it is too early to consider legal action, but as a public company, if it can't find a practical solution, the company must actually protect the interests of shareholders.

Nathanielsen said the Greenland government included clauses in its 2013 contract with the company saying it was not entitled to an exploration licence and could refuse it for political reasons. He stressed: "We are unable to provide security for litigation, but we believe we have excelled in potential court cases." ”

He also mentioned that the new bill will also include options to ban exploration for other radioactive minerals, such as thorium, and that it will be passed in the fall with the support of alliance partner Nalaq.