Greenland has informed Energy Transition Minerals of a potential rejection of its exploration licence renewal application for the Kvanefjeld rare earths project, the Australian miner said on Tuesday.
Shares of Energy Transition Minerals fell 5.6% to A$0.051 by 01:52 GMT as trading resumed after a halt on Thursday. The broader S&P/ASX 200 benchmark index was up 1.5%.
Kvanefjeld is a large-scale rare earths project with the potential to become a significant western world producer of critical minerals used in manufacture of consumer electronics.
Energy Transition Minerals said it had received a draft decision from the Greenland government indicating that the mineral resources ministry intended to recommend that the application be declined.
Greenland stated that the company’s exploration activities were “no longer considered to serve a purpose” and that a licence could not be granted under the current legislative framework, the company said in a statement.
The company noted the decision stemmed from a December 2021 law – the 2021 Uranium Act – that would effectively ban uranium prospecting, exploration and exploitation.
In 2023, Energy Transition Minerals filed a statement of claims with an arbitration tribunal in Copenhagen to decide on unit Greenland Minerals A/S’ legal right to be granted an exploitation licence for the project in relation to this law.
Greenland had previously granted licence renewals for the project, including during the course of active legal dispute and after the introduction of the 2021 Uranium Act, the company said, calling the draft position “inconsistent” with the historical treatment of the project.
(By Sherin Sunny; Editing by Sumana Nandy and Subhranshu Sahu)
