The mining company ETM is unhappy with the new delay in the case regarding the right to extract minerals at Kuannersuit.
At four and a half years, Greenland and the Australian mining company Energy Transition Minerals (ETM) have disagreed over the latter’s right to extract rare metals and minerals at Kuannersuit in South Greenland.
And even if Naalakkersuisut should have submitted a response in the case on Tuesday, there is a prospect of further delay in the decision.
According to ETM, Naalakkersuisut has asked for a further seven weeks to hand in the reply.
This has been done on the grounds that the written response – which has been completed – must first be translated from Danish to Greenlandic so that the government can approve it.
Naalakkersuisut believes that this can happen by December 15 at the latest.
According to a press release, ETM does not understand how Naalakkersuisut and their Danish lawyers have not taken the translation into account until now.
According to CEO Daniel Mamadou, it is another attempt to delay the processing of the case.
– That is why we have objected, and we expect the court to reject this obvious attempt to delay the case further, he says.
– It is no longer about process. It is harassment and shows it as an attempt to push ETM out of Greenland by dragging out the case as long as possible. We have presented our case and we are ready to have it tested, he says.
According to its own information, ETM has spent more than one billion kroner on Kvanefjeld since 2007, when it was given permission to investigate the occurrence of valuable metals and minerals.
The disagreement between Greenland and ETM consists of whether ETM has also obtained the right to extract these metals.
In 2021, Greenland introduced a ban on mineral activities in places where there is a high concentration of uranium – as is the case at Kuannersuit
In this connection, ETM believes that it is entitled to a billion in compensation because, according to the new law, you can no longer build the mine that was the target of the investigation.
RITZAU
