Naalakkersuisut does not mean that “further exploration at Kuannersuit may lead to the discovery of deposits that can be exploited in accordance with the Uranium Act”.
That’s how it sounds concise justification for the rejection of the Australian mining company Energy Transition Minerals, which, via the subsidiary Greenland Minerals, had applied for an extension of their exploration permit for Kuannersuit.
Naalakkersuisut does not mean that “further exploration at Kuannersuit may lead to the discovery of deposits that can be exploited in accordance with the Uranium Act”.
That’s how it sounds concise justification for the rejection of the Australian mining company Energy Transition Minerals, which, via the subsidiary Greenland Minerals, had applied for an extension of their exploration permit for Kuannersuit.
And that answer surprises the company’s director Daniel Mamadou:
– Sand suddenly the Greenlandic government has become experts in investigation and measurements?
Political justification
Naalakkersuisoq for raw materials, Múte B. Egede writes in a post on Facebook that the refusal is also an expression that Naalakkersuisut listens to the population who do not want the mining project in Narsaq realized:
“At the same time, we are listening to the population – not least in South Greenland – who have been clear in their attitude for many years. We are sticking to the course that Greenland has chosen.”
According to Daniel Mamadou, it is now quite clear that there is a political justification for the rejection of the project in Kuannersuit.
– Many things have been said over the years. But it is now quite clear that the law from 2021 on the prohibition of preliminary investigation, exploration and exploitation of uranium has been introduced for political reasons.
New occurrences below the permitted limit value
Daniel Mamadou is sorry that the department does not want to enter into a dialogue with the company about their exploration results from 2025, which show that there are probably 10 larger areas within the license area with rare earth metals, where uranium concentrations are below the permitted 100 ppm (parts per million).
In a stock exchange announcement from the company issued on 12 June, it reads:
“The discovery of extensive rare earths at surface associated with uranium values below the 100 ppm threshold is a very encouraging result of our 2025 exploration season – where our geological team assessed areas within the Kuannersuit license that had not been previously explored.”
Refuses further investigation
To Sermitsiaq, Daniel Mamadou says that this discovery presupposes further investigation, which the company is scheduled to have completed this year.
– The only way we can learn more about the new deposits is to explore them further. We cannot do that now that Naalakkersuisut has rejected our application to extend the exploration permit.
Sermitsiaq has been handed the 10-page rejection letter from Naalakkersuisut to the company. In addition, two geological notes prepared by the Ministry of Raw Materials, which deal with the company’s new deposits, as well as an assessment note prepared by the National Geological Surveys for Denmark and Greenland (GEUS).
According to the memos, both the Department of Mineral Resources and GEUS consider the company’s recent surface sampling, which shows uranium values below 100 ppm, to be less reliable than drill core data from previous drilling campaigns that show higher uranium concentrations. However, GEUS reserves the right that these are only general assessments and not a thorough analysis of the company’s new data. The self-government and Naalakkersuisut conclude, among other things, on the basis of the geological notes, that there is no basis for assuming that the company can carry out exploitation within the license area.
