GGG.AX
ASX: GGG
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Company Announcement, 12 November 2021
Greenland Minerals Ltd ('GGG' or 'the Company') advises Greenland's parliament has passed new legislation concerning uranium mining on 9 November 2021, a development foreshadowed in previous ASX announcements, including the September 2021 Quarterly Report.
The new legislation prohibits preliminary investigation, exploration, and exploitation of uranium, which it defines as uranium content which occurs at 100 parts per million or greater in the total resource. The legislation also permits the Government to extend that prohibition to other unspecified radioactive elements by imposing permitted limit values on those elements. It serves to reverse initiatives, policies and legislation adopted by successive governments over the past decade.
There are no active primary uranium projects in Greenland. Therefore, the legislation is directed at the production of rare earth materials and other critical metals, where it is common for ores to contain radioactive elements including uranium and thorium. The Company is seeking clarity as to how the new legislation will effectively modify existing approvals or authorizations.
GGG's 100%-owned Kvanefjeld rare earth project is underpinned by a JORC code compliant ore reserve estimate that contains 108 million tonnes at 1.43% rare earth oxide, 0.26% zinc, and 0.036% uranium oxide. Under the currently proposed development strategy for Kvanefjeld, uranium oxide, if recovered as a by-product of rare earth production, would contribute approximately 5% of project revenues.
The Company is not aware of any technical, radiological, or health and safety reasons why the Greenland Government has selected a threshold level of 100ppm uranium for the legislation.
PERTH: Unit 7, 100 Railway Road, Subiaco Western Australia 6008 POSTAL: PO Box 2006, Subiaco WA 6904
Telephone: +61 8 9382 2322 Facsimile: +61 8 9382 2788
GREENLAND: PO Box 156, Narsaq, Greenland 3921
WEB: www.ggg.glEMAIL: [email protected]: 85 118 463 004
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ASX: GGG
A comprehensive radiological assessment of the Kvanefjeld Project by independent specialist consultancy Arcadis concluded "the Kvanefjeld Project is expected to release only small amounts of additional radioactivity to the environment and is not expected to result in an adverse effect, or significant harm, to wildlife or people that live or visit the area".
Background
Greenland Minerals commenced operating in Greenland in 2007 to explore the broader Kvanefjeld area and evaluate a multi-element mining operation. In November 2011, GGG's exploration licence over the Kvanefjeld Project, which covers "all mineral resources except hydrocarbons, radioactive elements and hydropower resources", was amended by the government of the time to add a conditional right for the Company to apply for an exploitation licence to include "radioactive elements", which provided the Company with a regulatory framework to effectively evaluate a multi-element mine development. This marked an important step in the evolution of the Project, as it placed a clear emphasis on rigorous scientific evaluation regarding a decision to mine.
The granting of an exploitation licence then became dependent on establishing an environmentally and socially sustainable development scenario that is economically robust. The addition of "radioactive elements" to the exploration licence in 2011 did not affect, or qualify, the right of the Company to apply for an exploitation licence for any other mineral resources (except hydrocarbons and hydropower resources). Similarly, a denial of exploitation licence for "radioactive elements" is irrelevant to the rights which are granted by the Standard Terms for the exploration licence.
Over the subsequent decade, leading independent international experts completed many environmental and technical studies, resulting in the Kvanefjeld impact assessments being accepted as meeting Greenland's Guidelines for public consultation by the Government of Greenland and its independent scientific advisors in December 2020. The 38 -week public consultation period concluded on 13 September 2021, and the Company has lodged its White Paper responses to all public comments with the Government.
In parallel to detailed feasibility, environmental and social studies on the Kvanefjeld Project, numerous initiatives have been undertaken by successive governments in Greenland to investigate, then establish, a legal framework to manage the production and export of uranium in Greenland. These endeavors were
PERTH: Unit 7, 100 Railway Road, Subiaco Western Australia 6008 POSTAL: PO Box 2006, Subiaco WA 6904
Telephone: +61 8 9382 2322 Facsimile: +61 8 9382 2788
GREENLAND: PO Box 156, Narsaq, Greenland 3921
WEB: www.ggg.glEMAIL: [email protected]: 85 118 463 004
For personal use only
ASX: GGG
primarily due to Greenland's ambitions to become a significant producer of rare earths materials, and other critical minerals where ores are also enriched in uranium.
A timeline of key developments includes:
The new uranium legislation marks a shift in the Greenland Government's decade-long agenda of developing a critical minerals industry in Greenland, in alignment with Greenland's broader minerals strategy.
PERTH: Unit 7, 100 Railway Road, Subiaco Western Australia 6008 POSTAL: PO Box 2006, Subiaco WA 6904
Telephone: +61 8 9382 2322 Facsimile: +61 8 9382 2788
GREENLAND: PO Box 156, Narsaq, Greenland 3921
WEB: www.ggg.glEMAIL: [email protected]: 85 118 463 004
For personal use only
ASX: GGG
About the Kvanefjeld Project
The Kvanefjeld Rare Earth Project is one of the most significant and advanced emerging rare earth projects globally. The Project is unique with respect to its favourable metallurgy and forecast production profile across all commercially important rare earths. Kvanefjeld is located near existing infrastructure in southern Greenland with year-round direct shipping access to the project area. The Project has been carefully designed to minimise impacts through the consideration of the existing environment. Hydroelectricity has been positively evaluated as an option to power the project to produce low-emissions rare earth materials, in addition to providing additional power to the south Greenland grid.
Rare earth elements are critical to the electric vehicle revolution and renewable energy, as well as many other energy efficient applications. The Kvanefjeld Project is forecast to be a globally significant producer of all commercially important rare earth elements including neodymium, praseodymium, terbium and dysprosium, over an initial 37-year mine life. These rare earths are used to make high powered permanent magnets that are utilised in electric vehicles and wind turbines, along with many other applications. Kvanefjeld is well-placed to meet the major surge in rare earth demand that will be generated by the transition to electric vehicles, along with growth in renewable energy.
Authorised for release by the Board of Greenland Minerals Ltd.
-ENDS-.
PERTH: Unit 7, 100 Railway Road, Subiaco Western Australia 6008 POSTAL: PO Box 2006, Subiaco WA 6904
Telephone: +61 8 9382 2322 Facsimile: +61 8 9382 2788
GREENLAND: PO Box 156, Narsaq, Greenland 3921
WEB: www.ggg.glEMAIL: [email protected]: 85 118 463 004
Statement of Identified Mineral Resources, Kvanefjeld Project, Independently Prepared by SRK Consulting (February, 2015)
Multi-Element Resources Classification, Tonnage and Grade
Contained Metal
Cut-off
Classification
M tonnes
TREO2
U3O8
LREO
HREO
REO
Y2O3
Zn
TREO
HREO
Y2O3
U3O8
Zn
(U3O8 ppm)1
Mt
ppm
ppm
ppm
ppm
ppm
ppm
ppm
Mt
Mt
Mt
M lbs
Mt
Kvanefjeld - February 2015
only
150
Measured
143
12,100
303
10,700
432
11,100
978
2,370
1.72
0.06
0.14
95.21
0.34
150
Indicated
308
11,100
253
9,800
411
10,200
899
2,290
3.42
0.13
0.28
171.97
0.71
150
Inferred
222
10,000
205
8,800
365
9,200
793
2,180
2.22
0.08
0.18
100.45
0.48
150
Total
673
10,900
248
9,600
400
10,000
881
2,270
7.34
0.27
0.59
368.02
1.53
200
Measured
111
12,900
341
11,400
454
11,800
1,048
2,460
1.43
0.05
0.12
83.19
0.27
200
Indicated
172
12,300
318
10,900
416
11,300
970
2,510
2.11
0.07
0.17
120.44
0.43
200
Inferred
86
10,900
256
9,700
339
10,000
804
2,500
0.94
0.03
0.07
48.55
0.22
use
200
Total
368
12,100
310
10,700
409
11,200
955
2,490
4.46
0.15
0.35
251.83
0.92
250
Measured
93
13,300
363
11,800
474
12,200
1,105
2,480
1.24
0.04
0.10
74.56
0.23
250
Indicated
134
12,800
345
11,300
437
11,700
1,027
2,520
1.72
0.06
0.14
101.92
0.34
250
Inferred
34
12,000
306
10,800
356
11,100
869
2,650
0.41
0.01
0.03
22.91
0.09
250
Total
261
12,900
346
11,400
440
11,800
1,034
2,520
3.37
0.11
0.27
199.18
0.66
300
Measured
78
13,700
379
12,000
493
12,500
1,153
2,500
1.07
0.04
0.09
65.39
0.20
personalr
300
Indicated
100
13,300
368
11,700
465
12,200
1,095
2,540
1.34
0.05
0.11
81.52
0.26
300
Inferred
15
13,200
353
11,800
391
12,200
955
2,620
0.20
0.01
0.01
11.96
0.04
300
Total
194
13,400
371
11,900
471
12,300
1,107
2,530
2.60
0.09
0.21
158.77
0.49
350
Measured
54
14,100
403
12,400
518
12,900
1,219
2,550
0.76
0.03
0.07
47.59
0.14
350
Indicated
63
13,900
394
12,200
505
12,700
1,191
2,580
0.87
0.03
0.07
54.30
0.16
350
Inferred
6
13,900
392
12,500
424
12,900
1,037
2,650
0.09
0.00
0.01
5.51
0.02
350
Total
122
14,000
398
12,300
506
12,800
1,195
2,570
1.71
0.06
0.15
107.45
0.31
PERTH: Unit 7, 100 Railway Road, Subiaco Western Australia 6008 POSTAL: PO Box 2006, Subiaco WA 6904
T l phone: +61 8 9382 2322 Facsimile: +61 8 9382 2788
GREENLAND: PO Box 156, Narsaq, Greenland 3921
WEB: www.ggg.gl
EMAIL: [email protected]: 85 118 463 004
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Greenland Minerals and Energy Limited published this content on 11 November 2021 and is solely responsible for the information contained therein. Distributed by Public, unedited and unaltered, on 11 November 2021 22:56:02 UTC.