PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Junior Energy Transition Minerals has suffered another setback with the government of Greenland refusing a 2019 application for an exploitation licence for the company’s Kuannersuit project.

The rejection of the exploitation licence application follows on from the government’s previous draft decision to refuse an exploitation licence for Kvanefjeld rare earth elements project.

The Greenland government in 2021 passed an Act banning uranium prospecting, exploration and exploitation, which made the development of the Kvanefjeld rare earth project more costly. The company was told that the exploitation licence for Kvanefjeld could not be granted because it would involve exploitation of an orebody that contains more than 100 ppm of uranium, which was the threshold that was introduced in Greenland's Parliament.

“We express our sincere disappointment that the Greenland government decided to go ahead and formalise the rejection of our application on the basis of the application of Act 20. In light of this, we are left with no choice but to continue with the arbitration process,” said Energy Transition Minerals MD Daniel Mamadou.

“We intend to lodge a Statement of Claim with the arbitral tribunal in Copenhagen by July 19, 2023. We will use every legal avenue available to us to seek a fair and just resolution to this matter. We believe it is necessary to ensure the fair application of laws and regulations to our project and to protect the interests of our shareholders, employees and the communities within which we operate.

“We note that the Greenland government's decision expressly states that it is not a decision on our amended exploitation licence application dated December 16, 2022, in which we only proposed to exploit rare earths, zinc and fluorspar and to treat uranium as an impurity to be safely removed and stored as tailings. The government's decision says that our amended application will be the subject of a separate decision after having conducted a clarification of the matter and a prior consultation.

“Our goal is not only to promote economic development but also to sustainably manage and protect natural resources, creating a win-win scenario for all parties involved. We thank our stakeholders for their continued support as we navigate this process,” said Mamadou.

The company is now reviewing the details of the Greenland government’s decision and will provide further details at a later date.