Greenfield Minerals is considering two options for its threatened Kvanefjeld rare earth-uranium project, after conferring with the Greenland government on the project’s future, Kallanish reports.

The company is also seeking another meeting with a top Greenland official - Minister of Finance, Minerals, Justice and Gender Equality Naaja Nathanielsen - and it has hired global law firm Clifford Chase to be its legal advisor as the fight continues over one of the largest rare earth projects in the world. The company wants to further discuss its Greenland options and remedies should no suitable options be available.

The Australia-based company was told in a video conference with Greenland officials that it could proceed with its present exploitation license application which would likely be rejected by Greenland regulators or it could recall that application and submit a revised application in which the company would need to show it can comply with Greenland’s tough new limits on uranium.

The company has a current exploration license and the new rules went into effect on 2 December, 2021. But Greenland says that issuing an exploitation license would be considered a separate new act and subject to the new rules. Under that scenario, the Kvanefjeld project would be barred because the company is unable to comply with the new uranium limits in Parliament Act No. 20.

The company says Greenland has the right to enact legislation but the new act appears to deprive Greenland Minerals of its “acquired rights (including the company’s exploration license) and effect an expropriation without compensation,” it says in a company statement.

Greenland’s new leftist-leaning government has approved rules banning the mining of uranium which it defines as uranium content of 100 parts-per-million or greater in the total resource. The legislation was part of a new effort to make the Danish territory more environmentally responsible. The company is not giving up on the Kvanefjeld project with its uranium oxide content of 266 ppm but it is looking at projects elsewhere. The company has appointed a new managing director, Daniel Mamdou of Welsbach Holdings in Singapore, to conduct corporate strategic review and to seek out new projects outside of Greenland.

The Kvanefjeld project near Narsaq in southwest Greenland features ore reserves that contain 108 million tonnes of 1.43% rare earth oxide, 0.26% zinc and 0.036% uranium oxide. The uranium oxide would produce about 5% of project revenues. Greenland Minerals had been on track to win approval from the previous Greenland government, but locals fear that the project would adversely impact the fragile Arctic environment. The mine would operate for 37 years.