Latest news with #EnergyTransitionMinerals
Yahoo
19-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Energy Transition recommended as preferred bidder for Spanish Penouta mine acquisition
Australian Securities Exchange (ASX)-listed company Energy Transition Minerals has announced that its subsidiary, Energy Transition Minerals Spain, has been recommended as the preferred bidder to acquire the Penouta tin-tantalum-niobium mine in Spain. The recommendation by the court-appointed administrator is part of the auction process for the assets of Strategic Minerals Spain, which is currently in administration. The Penouta Mine, located in Galicia, Spain, includes both permitted and currently suspended sections. The bid status places Energy Transition Minerals Spain in a favourable position ahead of a live auction scheduled for 29 July 2025. Should its bid remain preferred, the company expects to be declared the acquirer of the productive unit of Strategic Minerals Spain by the court by October. The offer for the mine is up to €3.6m ($4.1m), which includes a €2.5m fixed consideration, up to €1m in contingent payments and €100,000 coverage for employee liabilities. A deposit of €500,000 has been lodged, which is refundable under certain conditions but forfeitable if the company's bid is not selected or if it withdraws post-selection. The company has also committed to covering care and maintenance costs of up to €1.2m for a maximum of 12 months. Completion of the transaction is contingent on several conditions including legal, regulatory and creditor approvals. The offer will be funded from Energy Transition Minerals' cash reserves and the transaction is expected to be completed before the end of 2025. The deal aligns with Energy Transition Minerals' strategy to build a diversified portfolio of critical minerals projects, complementing its core asset, the Kvanefjeld rare earths project in Greenland. "Energy Transition recommended as preferred bidder for Spanish Penouta mine acquisition" was originally created and published by Mining Technology, a GlobalData owned brand. The information on this site has been included in good faith for general informational purposes only. It is not intended to amount to advice on which you should rely, and we give no representation, warranty or guarantee, whether express or implied as to its accuracy or completeness. You must obtain professional or specialist advice before taking, or refraining from, any action on the basis of the content on our site.
The Guardian
20-03-2025
- Business
- The Guardian
Greenland might open a vast rare earth deposit to mining. Locals say it could destroy their way of life
Isolated among icebergs, fjords and mountains in remote southern Greenland, Narsaq is a town that does not worry too much about what the outside world thinks, says Ane Egede. In her home town of about 1,300 people, there is not much in the way of shops, but there are plentiful opportunities to hunt, fish, and pick berries and herbs. 'We are very close to the nature,' she says. 'The town is clean and a beautiful place to live in. We live a little bit old fashioned. We're not so materialistically minded.' But now residents have little choice but to engage with external forces. Close to the world's second largest rare earth deposit and the sixth largest uranium deposit, the town has been forced into conflict with a mining company thousands of miles away in Australia. If the arbitration investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) case is accepted this summer, its fate is likely to be decided later this year. The town of Narsaq with the Kvanefjeld plateau in the background. Kvanefjeld is part of the Ilímaussaq complex in southern Greenland and is the second-largest rare earth deposit and the sixth-largest uranium deposit in the world. It is the subject of a legal dispute between mining-license holder Energy Transition Minerals, an Australian mining company, and Denmark and Greenland. The mining license was withdrawn after the 2021 election, when Greenland banned uranium mining. Ane Egede in her home in Narsaq. She left the town decades ago and returned with her husband in 2020. They firmly believed that the planned mining project was off the table, but there is still no guarantee. Sodalite, which glows under UV light. Inhabitants of Narsaq skinning a seal. The inhabitants of Greenland are still allowed to hunt seals. It comes at a time of heightened attention on the Arctic island, which is an autonomous territory within the kingdom of Denmark, amid threats by Donald Trump to acquire Greenland for the US. Trump has expressed interest in securing both its security benefits and minerals, and has refused to rule out military or economic force to do so. After one of the most consequential elections of the island's history on 11 March, the centre-right Democrats are now in the process of trying to form a coalition government after replacing Inuit Ataqatigiit (IA) as the ruling party and upending the status quo of Greenland's politics. The Kvanefjeld (Kuannersuit in Greenlandic) plateau near Narsaq is part of the more than a billion-year-old Ilímaussaq complex, in which more than 230 mineral varieties are present. The deposit was first discovered in the 1950s and explored over the subsequent decades by Denmark, which ruled Greenland as a colony until 1953 and until 2009 maintained control of its natural resources (today it continues to control its foreign and security policy), for its high uranium content. In 2007 a mining licence was acquired by the company formerly known as Greenland Minerals, now Energy Transition Minerals (ETM), after which the mineral complex was explored extensively with a new drilling campaign that found that it housed vast amounts of rare earth minerals in addition to uranium. But after IA came into power, in 2021, Greenland banned uranium mining. The move prompted ETM, which is based in Perth and partly owned by the Chinese government-backed Shenghe Resources, to sue Greenland for getting in the way of its plans – demanding either the right to exploit the deposit or claim up to $11.5bn in compensation. The Kvanefjeld plateau. Until recently, an open-cast mine was planned here to extract the rare earth minerals contained in the rock. A byproduct of this would have been a large amount of uranium. Adrian Finch examines a rock on the Motzfeldt plateau, near Narsarsuaq. Ninni Jerimiassen examines a stone on the Motzfeldt plateau. A Geiger counter on the Kvanefjeld plateau shows a dose equivalent of more than 30 microsieverts on the surface. Geologists Ninni Jerimiassen, Curtis Rooks, Adrian Finch and Anna Szreter at their camp on the Motzfeldt plateau. Geologists Anna Szreter and Ninni Jerimiassen crossing a snowfield on the Motzfeldt plateau near Narsarsuaq in southern Greenland. The deposit is so close to Narsaq that Egede can see it from her house. When there is wind, any potentially radioactive mining matter could blow on to the town, she says. 'We're against [mining] because we have many different wind directions and whenever it does blow into the town how can you breathe?' she says. 'And all this is too close to the town.' They eat and fish from the sea near the mountain and there are farmers near the mining area, she adds. Narsaq's surrounding nature – including wild herbs and fruit – is a key part of life there. 'When it disappears what can we do? We will have nothing left. With nobody hunting anymore, what can we live off?' An anti-uranium slogan on a farm in Tasiusaq near Qassiarsuk in southern Greenland, where sheep farming is an important economic activity. Farmers were a driving force behind the anti-uranium protests surrounding the planned mine, as they feared that their products would be viewed as damaged by the radioactive dust from the planned open-cast mine. She is also concerned about Trump's interest in Greenland, which continues to loom large in global geopolitics. 'He has never been here so he has nothing to say about my country,' she says. People around the world must help to preserve Narsaq and its surroundings, says Egede, who is part of the Urani Naamik (Uranium – No Thanks) movement. Daniel Mamadou-Blanco, ETM's managing director, said: 'The Kuannersuit project is designed with the absolute best in class environment safety standards, and ETM remains open and flexible on altering the project design in order to fully guarantee the safety of the citizens and the integrity of the environment.' Egede is one of the many people that the photojournalist Jan Richard Heinicke met and photographed during multiple trips to Greenland. The project started out as an exploration of the European Union's attempt to tackle its dependence on countries outside Europe for critical resources. But after visiting Narsaq, he decided to focus on Kvanefjeld as 'an example of the conflicts surrounding mining projects'. He adds: 'The project is multidimensional and touches a huge variety of topics. It allows a glimpse into the colonial relationship between Denmark and Greenland, how geopolitical questions affect local traditional communities, and it serves a blueprint for other proposed mining projects around the world.' Ice floes in a fjord near Narsarsuaq. Arnannguaq Petersen, a member of the Urani Naamik movement (Uranium – No Thanks) in Narsaq. While she originally supported mining, Petersen has now been active in the anti-uranium group for years after she learned about the effects the mine could have on the local community. View over Narsaq. The Kvanefjeld plateau is to the left of the background. Protesters from the Urani Naamik movement (Uranium – No Thanks) while waiting for the board of Energy Transition Minerals to arrive in Narsaq. Pavia Rohde, manager of the local facilities of Energy Transition Minerals in Narsaq. Drill cores from Kvanefjeld at the warehouse of Energy Transition Minerals in Narsaq under UV light. A view of the Motzfeldt plateau, where rare earth minerals are suspected to be present. Like the llímaussaq complex, which hosts the Kvanefjeld deposit, the Motzfeldt plateau is part of the Gardar igneous province. As the Motzfeldt plateau was formed through the same volcanic activity at roughly the same time as the Kvanefjeld deposit, it shares similar mineral compositions, making it of interest to scientists and the mining industry Jan Richard Heinicke is a documentary photographer based in Germany. His stories revolve around the constant negotiation between human demands and the ability of nature to provide for them.
The Guardian
05-03-2025
- The Guardian
Fearing toxic waste, Greenland ended uranium mining. Now, they could be forced to restart - or pay $11bn
From the iceberg-filled bay, the mountains above the town of Narsaq, in south-west Greenland, appear unremarkable. In the September warmth, clumps of grass cling to the smooth, grey peaks shaped over centuries by an enormous ice cap that lurks behind the fjords on the horizon. Brightly coloured homes are scattered around the shoreline below, home to a community of just over 1,300 people. Were it not for a mining outhouse on the edge of town, there would be little indication of the potential riches in the rock. The range is home to one of the largest undeveloped deposits of rare-earth minerals and uranium in the world: the Kvanefjeld site, or Kuannersuit in Greenlandic. It contains high concentrations of metals such as terbium and neodymium, which are used to manufacture permanent magnets in wind turbines and electric cars. Every major power in the world is scrambling to get access to these minerals for carbon-free energy and transport. A proposed open-pit mine would be worth about $7.5bn (£6bn) if it went ahead, according to the site operator, generating income for the island's economy. But when the mining company acquired the site in 2007, the impact of potentially radioactive waste contaminating drinking water and nearby sheep farms alarmed local people. They feared that the 'tailings' – a slurry of ground-up waste from mining – would be laced with radioactive waste and could contaminate waterways or spread as dust in the air. Greenland has a troubled history with mining pollution: the sites of lead and zinc mines developed in the 1970s remain polluted more than 50 years later, with fish, mussels and seaweed still testing positive for toxins. The ecosystem surrounding Narsaq is rich with seals, whales and other marine life, which Inuit hunter-gatherers rely on for their livelihoods. In 2021, Greenland went to the polls, in a contest to which uranium was so central, international media dubbed it 'the mining election'. The people voted in a green, leftwing government, led by the Inuit Ataqatigiit party, which campaigned against uranium mining due to the potential pollution. When it took power, the new government kept its campaign promise, passing legislation to ban uranium mining. While not primarily a uranium mine, the Kvanefjeld project would require unearthing the radioactive substance to extract its rare earth oxides, putting it in violation of the law. Many Greenlanders celebrated the vote as a victory for health and the environment. But three years later, the company is suing Greenland for stopping its plans, demanding the right to exploit the deposit or receive compensation of up to $11.5bn: nearly 10 times the country's 8.5bn krone (£950m) annual budget. Kvanefjeld's operator, Energy Transition Minerals (ETM), the Australian-listed company formerly known as Greenland Minerals, argues that the decision to ban mining amounts to expropriation by Greenland's government and any environmental concerns would be addressed with the 'best environmental practice, where this was technically, practically and financially possible'. It has taken the case to arbitration through the investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS), a once-obscure provision in trade agreements that has become a lucrative area of international law, alongside cases in Greenland and Denmark. ISDS was designed to protect foreign businesses from state corruption and theft, but it is increasingly being used to sue governments that bring in environmental laws to meet climate targets or protect biodiversity and the environment. A Guardian investigation into ISDS, which analysed more than 1,400 cases, has revealed $84bn in payouts from governments to fossil fuel companies. More than $120bn of public money has been awarded to private investors across all industries since 1976. What is it? Investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) was created to help companies protect investments abroad. It allows companies to sue countries for lost profits caused by government action including corruption, seizure of assets or the introduction of health and environmental policies. The system was created in the 1960s by the World Bank. It was intended to give companies confidence to invest in poorer countries with weak political systems where they might not get a fair hearing in domestic courts. How does it work? The foreign company must put forward a case showing that the state has damaged its profits. Most international investment treaties and free-trade deals include ISDS clauses. Cases are heard by a private arbitration tribunal, and typically decided by a panel of three arbitrators – one chosen by the company, one chosen by the state and the third selected jointly. How much are the cases worth? Awards regularly amount to hundreds of millions of dollars, and some are in the billions. In 2024 the average amount awarded was $385m (£304m). The average sum awarded is increasing and these payouts can make up a sizeable chunk of poorer countries' annual budgets. Who is involved? The fossil fuel and mining industries are the most litigious in the ISDS system, accounting for more than 30% of known cases. Most claims are brought by companies based in rich countries against the governments of developing countries. Companies registered in developed countries file 81% of ISDS lawsuits, according to UN data, while developing countries have faced 62% of cases. How common is it? ISDS began as an obscure legal mechanism, averaging about one case a year for its first decade. Now, dozens are brought every year, with Guardian analysis finding more than 900 since 2013. Often, companies in such cases sue for vast sums – claiming not only the costs of planning or exploration, but also for all the future profits they expected to make from a cancelled project. In the Greenland case, ETM, which is partly owned by the Chinese government-backed Shenghe Resources, said it had spent more than $100m developing the site in the expectation it would be allowed to operate it as a mine. Its $11.5bn claim is based on the $7.5bn value of the mine plus $4bn in interest. 'For us, it's a principle of governments deciding power,' says Naaja Nathanielsen, Greenland's mining minister, who also has business, trade, justice and gender equality in her portfolio. 'We were elected democratically. We had a public hearing process with the law. It offends me that they are trying the case in this way. 'It really challenges the democratic institutions,' Nathanielsen says. 'We are going to fight until the end because it's a matter of principle.' She refuses to say what losing the case might mean for Greenland. Daniel Mamadou-Blanco, managing director of ETM, says his company understands how democracies work. 'We were asked to apply for a mining licence, which we did. In the process, we raised the necessary capital to move to the next step,' he says. 'Then there is a change of government – which is democratically elected – which has made a promise to specifically stop this project for political reasons. That's absolutely fine but, in this case, that's an expropriation. If it's an expropriation, we are entitled to compensation,' he says. Greenland's government is keen to develop a mining industry that will sustain its future independence without critically damaging its environment. Currently, the country relies on Denmark for about half of its annual budget. While there is just one active mine, the island is being prospected by many of the world's largest companies, including one linked to Bill Gates and Jeff Bezos. Southern Greenland has become a new frontier of global mining, with at least 124 projects at various stages of development across the island. It has also become the latest site of the growing economic confrontation between the US and China, with Donald Trump repeatedly threatening to annex Greenland. Despite the intense global interest, Greenland's government says it will not be moved in the case of the Narsaq deposit. 'They try to bully us and make us feel small. That's not going to happen,' Nathanielsen says. 'Energy Transition Minerals don't have that kind of money [to bring the case themselves]. They would not have been able to succeed without [outside] support, which makes their argument even more pitiful.' Mamadou-Blanco disagrees. 'We are just a small company. I would argue that here, the bullies are the government and not us,' he says. The mining company is not paying its own legal fees, although it insists it would have been capable of bringing the case on its own. Burford Capital, a London- and New York-listed litigation finance specialist, has invested in the case, covering the cost of the arbitration proceedings in exchange for a share of the financial benefits if it is successful. It is among 75 cases found by the Guardian that have been financed by litigation finance investors – a trend that has grown dramatically since the system began. Other examples include a US-based deep-sea exploration company called Odyssey Marine Exploration, which won a payout of $37.1m from the Mexican state after it was denied an environmental permit to mine a large area of seabed off the coast. In 2015, Italy banned offshore oil and gas exploration within 12 miles of its coastline on environmental grounds. Rockhopper, a UK-based oil and gas company, had to dismantle operations on its Ombrina Mare oilfield and was awarded €190m (£159m), plus interest, of Italian public money in compensation for lost future profits. Italy is still trying to get the decision annulled. No payment has yet been made. For proponents of the system, the rise of no-win, no-fee investment in arbitration helps more companies access justice than would do otherwise, protecting them from bad behaviour by states. But others fear that a new asset class has been created which profits from laws designed to mitigate the climate crisis and environmental damage. Malcolm Langford, a professor of public law at the University of Oslo, says it pits two wings of the environmental movement against each other: investors eager to extract rare earths for the green transition vying with traditional concerns about hazardous industries. 'The amount of potential damages is a wild card,' he says. 'The claim by the investors [ETM] is not so far-fetched, given that some tribunals have awarded astronomically high damages for mining and similar projects. It is clear though that the billion-dollar claim in this case is designed to push Greenlanders to change their mind and allow mining to start.' Kyla Tienhaara, an associate professor at Queen's University in Canada, says that although a rapid transition to clean energy is needed, local communities and governments should still have the right to reject mining projects that threaten ecosystems or create unacceptable risks to human health and wellbeing. 'Time and time again, what we see around the world is that when extractive projects are rejected on these grounds, investors turn to arbitration with exorbitant compensation claims,' she says. 'Even the threat of such a claim can cause governments to reverse course.' In February, representatives from the Perth-based ETM travelled to Greenland to visit the island once again. The arbitration case, launched in 2022, has proceeded slowly due to lengthy disagreements about procedure. This summer, arbitrators will decide whether they should accept the case. If they do, the issue is likely to be resolved later this year. After the 2021 general election, the value of the mining company collapsed. But now, investor optimism is changing. After Trump's comments about Greenland, the company's share price has surged – more than quadrupling since November. Greenlanders go to the polls again this month, and a new government could allow mining to go ahead. The company has raised more capital, following the bounce in its share price. Outside a slaughterhouse in Narsaq, a group of men dressed in blue overalls smoke as they wait for the first seasonal shipment of Greenlandic sheep to arrive. The bay is largely silent after a day of drizzle, which caused loud booms all night as icebergs broke apart. Finally, a boat comes into view in the fjord and everyone scrambles to unload the shipment. There is a range of opinion about the mine in Narsaq, says Kitdlak Lynge, a production management assistant at the slaughterhouse, as we wait. 'People are divided into two different groups because of the uranium,' he says. 'I am not worried about whether the mine happens, I am worried about how. The plans I have seen are not acceptable. It's going to destroy the water.' Dozens of thick-coated sheep scramble towards the abattoir from the harbour. Within weeks, the bay behind them will fill with pack ice as the cold sets in, sometimes cutting Narsaq off from the world for days. The arrival of fat seal pups lying on the ice will signal the start of spring and the return of the light. Farther around the coast, polar bears will feast on the seals as the region bursts into life once again. Nobody knows what an open-pit mine would mean for any of that. 'The chemicals and the tailings that they're going to use, I do not want them to be left here,' says Lynge. 'If they could ship them outside of Greenland, I wouldn't mind. [But] it will affect the whole area if mining starts – the chemicals, the industry and the changes in the environment will affect the whole area.'
Yahoo
15-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Rare earths hopeful in eye of Greenland political storm
An Australian mining company with a stalled rare earths project in Greenland warns the territory risks damaging its reputation with foreign investors the longer a legal dispute drags on. Greenlanders go to the polls on March 11 in a web of geopolitical tensions, including a Western desire to break China's rare earths monopoly and new US tariffs on several nations and imports of steel and aluminium. The autonomous Danish territory of 57,000 people was thrust into the international spotlight in January after US President Donald Trump reiterated his desire to take control of the mineral-rich island. Greenland responded to Trump: "We are open for business, but we're not for sale". But Australian miner Energy Transition Minerals disputes that business-friendly claim, saying: "At the moment there is a closed door." Since 2007 the company has sought to develop the Kvanefjeld mine project in southern Greenland, one of the world's largest rare earth mineral deposits that also has uranium in the mix. The Perth junior miner has accused the present Greenland government of "moving the goalposts" and effectively halting the project after the 2021 election, by passing a law banning the mining of uranium - including as a by-product. "Open for business means something different, it means being able to find compromise. It means being able to find solutions together," Energy Transition Minerals managing director Daniel Mamadou told AAP. "After significant investment ... we are now being told to simply pack up and go. That is not acceptable." Mr Mamadou characterised the moratorium as "uniquely designed to stop our project" with a retroactive impact, adding this behaviour "essentially damages investor confidence". Venture capitalists are funding the company's legal case that is now before a tribunal in Copenhagen and Greenland courts. Mr Mamadou recently travelled to Greenland on an attempted charm offensive, saying he wants to start a "new dialogue" and seek a negotiated outcome. The trip coincided with Greenland entering its election campaign, however, and politicians gave the company a wide berth. In the capital Nuuk, the Australian miners received a warm reception from Greenland's business community that has long spruiked the territory as a mining investment destination, including at promotional days in Perth. Greenland Business Association director Christian Keldsen said the Australian company's legal case was frequently brought up by foreign companies whenever he did promotional talks. "(From the association's perspective) we are concerned about the loss of potential jobs and possibilities from any mining project that doesn't go forward," Mr Keldsen told AAP. "What we are working for is to be a reliable jurisdiction where the framework and the conditions aren't changed somewhere in the process." Despite the prospect of creating about 300 jobs for Greenlanders, the project is deeply unpopular in Narsaq, a town of 1500 people located about eight kilometres from the proposed mine. Sub-zero temperatures and about a dozen Narsaq protesters greeted the Australian mining executives' helicopter. Many worry about the environmental impact of radioactive dust from the proposed open pit mine, as well as the potential leakage of radioactive tailings. The region is considered Greenland's breadbasket and farmers are grazing some 20,000 sheep. There are fears for food production, human health and potential water contamination affecting fish and whales in the fjord, says anti-uranium campaigner Niels Henrik Hooge from the Danish environmental organisation Noah. Mr Mamadou insists the environmental impact assessment and project design are world class and the company would guarantee Narsaq residents' safety. But mine opponent Mariane Paviasen Jensen, a government MP from Narsaq, said such assurances fell flat and the timing of the visit was inappropriate. "I do believe that they are trying to interfere with our (upcoming) election," she told AAP. The mine threatens the survival of the town, Ms Jensen said. "It is not an option because if they get (permission) to dig, it will mean the end of Narsaq," she said. Any potential displacement of Narsaq residents would feed into the trauma of Greenland's difficult colonial past with Denmark. Some Greenlanders were forced to move from a settlement in the 1950s to make way for an expanded US Thule Air Base. Sensitivities about uranium also run deep - the US secretly built another military base deep within Greenland's ice sheet, where it planned to potentially launch nuclear missiles at the Soviet Union if war broke out. In 1968, a US bomber carrying four nuclear bombs crashed in northwest Greenland contaminating a fjord. As Greenland's politicians hit the hustings, political campaigning centres on a growing push for independence, perhaps supercharged by Trump's interest. But financial dependence on Denmark and a tiny economy heavily reliant on fishing remain sticking points to achieving that dream. While the left-wing Inuit Ataqatigiit Party narrowly came to power on an anti-mine stance in 2021, the Kvanefjeld mine has support from the centre-left Siumut Party. Whoever forms the next Greenlandic government will have to deal with mounting legal bills as the dispute with the Australian miner rolls on. But Greenland observers are reluctant to say the mining project is dead in the water. "The project never dies in the sense that the deposit is there. The uranium and the rare earth minerals are in the ground until someone digs them up. In that sense it could be resurrected any day," Danish Institute of International Studies senior researcher Ulrik Pram Gad said.
Reuters
11-02-2025
- Business
- Reuters
Uranium ban repeal in Greenland could revive massive rare earth project, licence holder says
NUUK, Greenland, Feb 11 (Reuters) - The mining company that owns the licence to Greenland's Kvanefjeld deposit is hopeful that a new government will repeal a ban on uranium mining after next month's election, potentially rejuvenating one of the world's largest rare earth projects. U.S President Donald Trump last month voiced renewed interest in acquiring the strategically important Arctic island. In response to Trump's comments, CEO Daniel Mamadou of Kvanefjeld licence holder Energy Transition Minerals ( opens new tab, said: "I think it certainly puts everything related to minerals back on the map." Kvanefjeld is among the world's top three rare earth deposits outside China, capable of supplying up to 15% of global production of the critical components used in manufacture of consumer electronics and weapons, according to Mamadou. However, the project's development was halted four years ago following the election of the Inuit Ataqatigiit party, which had pledged to stop the Kvanefjeld project due to its uranium content and proximity to populated areas. The government subsequently enacted a law banning extraction from deposits with uranium concentrations higher than 100 parts per minute (ppm). The company had been on track to gain final approval for the mine under the previous government, but locals fear its development could harm the country's fragile environment. The site is located near a UNESCO World Heritage Site and just a few kilometres from Narsaq. Mamadou was met by local protesters from Narsaq when he visited the site last week. Greenland's government is in a caretaker period because the election has been called and is no longer fully active. The ruling IA party says it is still opposed to the project and wants to keep the uranium ban in place. Its government coalition partner Siumut, which did not vote for the passing of the uranium ban in 2021, has since the election was called not said if it wants to scrap the uranium law. However, Siumut says in its party constitution that it should be possible to develop mines with uranium as a biproduct. The head of Greenland's biggest labour union SIK with 8,000 members supports the development of Kvanefjeld. Before the halt, Energy Transition Minerals had invested over 1 billion Danish crowns ($138 million) in the project. The company has since launched an arbitration case seeking compensation from the Greenlandic and Danish state. "The way this case is going to be solved - whether it's in our favour or not - is going to dictate the view and the attitude of foreign investments into Greenland going forward," Mamadou said. The company's shares saw a significant boost following Trump's comments but remain far below levels seen before the enactment of the uranium law. The timing of Mamadou's visit to Greenland during the election campaign was a coincidence, he said. Energy Transition Minerals, with China's Shenghe Resources holding 7% as its largest shareholder, is prepared to supply a supply chain outside China within the next three to five years, Mamadou said. Despite protests from locals in Narsaq near the Kvanefjeld site, Mamadou remains optimistic about the project's economic impact. He believes that the project could provide a much-needed boost to Greenland's fishing-dependent economy, potentially paving the way for the country's economic independence from Denmark. ($1 = 7.2366 Danish crowns)
