PERTH (Miningweekly.com) – ASX-listed Energy Transition Minerals has submitted an amendment to its existing application for an exploitation license at the Kvanefjeld rare earth element project, in Greenland, removing uranium as mining target.

The company in July this year was given a draft decision on its application for an exploitation license, with the Greenland Ministry of Mineral Resources and Justice proposing to reject the application.

According to the draft decision, the Energy Transition Minerals’ exploitation licence application could not be granted because it would involve exploitation of an ore body that contains more than 100 ppm of uranium, which was the threshold that was introduced in Greenland Parliament in December last year to ban uranium prospecting, exploration and exploitation.

Energy Transition Minerals said on Tuesday that its amended application proposed an alternative development scenario, in which only rare earths, zinc and fluorspar would be exploited at Kvanefjeld, while the uranium would be treated as an impurity and safely removed and stored as tailings.

The company said its expert radiological consultant had advised that this alternative treatment of uranium vs the previous exploitation licence application would not materially change the radiological impact of the Kvanefjeld project.

“Climate change isn’t waiting for anyone and rare earths are key to addressing this challenge. The Kvanefjeld project brings significant benefits locally on many fronts; moreover, it will position Greenland as the dominant supplier of rare earths globally, and completely change the market dynamics worldwide,” said MD Daniel Mamadou-Blanco.

“From our end, we are committed to creating the best and cleanest rare earth mining operation in the world, based on the highest standards of safety and sustainability. In the interests of investigating all possible development pathways, we have filed an amended plan that does not seek to extract uranium. This alternative can now be assessed by the government of Greenland on its merits.”