Name of the Project
Kvanefjeld rare earths project.

Location
The project is located in Kvanefjeld, in southern Greenland.

Project Owner/s
Greenland Minerals. Shenghe Resources has acquired a 12.5% interest in GMEL.

Project Description
The Kvanefjeld project is underpinned by the world’s largest code-compliant rare earths resource.

The outcomes of a feasibility study in 2016 demonstrated the potential of the project to be developed as a large-scale, low-cost producer of rare earths. The feasibility study envisaged the production of 30 000 t/y rare-earth oxide (REO) at a processing rate of three-million tonnes a year.

An optimised feasibility study was completed in May 2019, showing recovery improvements across the light and heavy rare-earth elements.

The increased recoveries will result in the production of 32 000 t/y REO at the processing rate of three-million tonnes a year adopted in the 2016 feasibility study.

The improved rare-earth recoveries have increased the projected output of commercially important rare earths to 4 260 t/y for neodymium oxide, 1 420 t/y for praseodymium oxide and 270 t/y for dysprosium oxide.

Average by-product output includes 451 t/y of uranium oxide, 6 060 t/y of zinc concentrate and 12 417 t/y of fluorspar. The increase in rare-earth recoveries is primarily owing to the design of a single-leach stage, which results in fewer solid/liquid separation stages. Each separation stage results in minor rare-earth losses. Kvanefjeld is well positioned to be a significant contributor to global rare-earth supply for an initial 37-year period, based on a 108-million-tonne ore reserve.

Potential Job Creation
Not stated.

Net Present Value/Internal Rate of Return
The 2016 feasibility study estimated the project’s net present value at $1.59-billion, at a 10% discount rate. The internal rate of return is 43.4%, with a payback of five years.

Capital Expenditure
The projected capital cost for the Kvanefjeld rare earths project has been reduced by an estimated 40%, from $832-million to $505-million.

The reduction in the capital cost estimates resulted from optimisation studies covering all elements of the project, from the flowsheet to civil construction.

Planned Start/End Date
Not stated.

Latest Developments
The project has reached what the owners describe as a “major” milestone in its approval process, after authorities said a revised version of the environmental-impact assessment (EIA) met all the requirements for it to be accepted for public review.

Greenlandic law requires that mining companies submit an independently prepared EIA when seeking permission to begin operations. The assessments must indicate what damage the mine could be expected to cause during its construction and operation, as well as any problems it could cause after operations cease.

Greenland Minerals, formerly known as Greenland Minerals and Energy, began conducting preparatory work in the Kvanefjeld area of southern Greenland in 2007.

Its first EIA, submitted in 2015, as well as subsequent revisions submitted in 2018 and 2019, have all have been all rejected as being incomplete.

The current version was drafted after multiple meetings with approval authorities to determine the major shortcomings of the assessment, which has resulted in an assessment that the authorities are now “very satisfied with,” according to a statement issued by Greenland Minerals.

Greenland Minerals must now translate the assessment into Greenlandic and Danish.

Once those versions are available, the assessment, together with the project’s approved assessments of the mine’s social impact and its impact on maritime safety, will be made public and approval authorities will begin a public consultation period.

Any decision about whether to grant approval to begin mining will rest with the administration.

Despite what appears to be an official acceptance that the assessment is complete, Greenland Minerals can expect considerable resistance during the public consultation process.

While Kvanefjeld is considered primarily a rare earths mine, getting the minerals out of the ground requires extracting uranium. Greenland Minerals maintains that the main focus of its operations will be rare earths, but it has admitted that selling the uranium will add to Kvanefjeld’s profitability, and it is this aspect of the operation that has created the most controversy..

Much of the criticism of the Kvanefjeld mine has centred on concerns that the dust created up by activity there will be harmful to residents of the nearby town of Narsaq and damage southern Greenland’s reputation as an emerging agricultural region and a destination for anglers.

Greenland Minerals representatives have responded, however, that their assessment has indicated that dust from the Kvanefjeld operation will not cause radiation in the area in question to rise above unacceptable levels.

Key Contracts, Suppliers and Consultants
None stated.

Contact Details for Project Information
GMEL, tel +61 8 9382 or fax +61 8 9382 2788.