Greenland: Kvanefjeld rare earth and uranium controversy leads to government break up

The governing party (Siumut) called national elections after its junior partner had left the government coalition which lost its majority. Obviously, Kvanefjeld mining project is at the core of the dispute.
The mining project has been a matter of disagreement for many years, causing serious divisions in government as well as population.

The project is run by Greenland Minerals Ltd., which is – notwithstanding its name – an Australian company. A little less than 10% of the shares are held by Chinese Shenghe Resources Holding Co., Ltd., a rare earth company.

Greenland Minerals Ltd. shares’ value dropped from a January high at € 0.22 to a 15. February low at € 0,11 (50% drop).

A poll some days ago suggests that the anti-uranium mining opposition party Inuit Ataqatigiit (IA) might be the big winner of the (premature) election announced for April 6, 2021, and IA might go to 13 seats (from 8). IA might then be able to form a coalition, needing 16 out of a total of 31 seats to be able to govern. On the other hand, local sources say it might be difficult to form a coalition without IA. IA will most probably request a stop of Kvanefjeld project as a prerequisite for building a coalition with other parties.

Some days ago, public consultation on the Environmental as well as on the Social Impact Assessment for the Kvanefjeld mining project were held at Narsaq, with over hundred people protesting against the project.

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