The Kuannersuit/Kvanefjeld Rare Earth – Uranium Project was first proposed by Australian Greenland Minerals Ltd. (henceforth GML) in 2007, and the company was granted access to commercial mineral exploration in the area [7]. The project is currently still in the planning phase, but if approved is predicted to be one of the world’s largest open-pit uranium mines and undeveloped resources of REEs, and the first mining project of its kind in the Arctic region [1]. Already in 2008, GML could confirm large sources of REEs but stated that the commercial mining project would only be economically feasible if the uranium sources existing in the same deposit were also commercially mined [8]. This consequently influenced the Greenlandic parliament to lift their zero-tolerance policy against the exploration and extraction of radioactive minerals by a narrow vote of 15 to 14 in the Greenlandic parliament in 2013, a vote that has continued to remain controversial but allowed GML’s exploration of the Kuannersuit project to continue [8]. Following this, an agreement was reached in 2016 between the Danish government and Naalakkersuisut (Government of Greenland) on the joint regulation of future uranium export [9]. To date (15/10/19), GML have submitted four versions of their environmental impact assessment ('VVM’ in Greenland) which have been criticised by environmental organisations and experts, amongst them Danish Friends of the Earth NOAH, as being environmentally inadequate, and the first three failed to gain approval by Naalakkersuisut [10]. The fourth version is currently being assessed but over the summer of 2019 it was discovered that GML had made several attempts to contact ministries unrelated to the EIA process and made complaints about the processing time [10]. In April 2019, the director of GML vehemently expressed his frustrations with the EIA process in a letter addressed at the EAMRA at Naalakkersuisut (see in attachments). A speaker for Naalakkersuisut addressed this as inappropriate behaviour in an official statement and a press release by the organisation NOAH described it as an attempt to undermine Greenlandic environmental legislation [11].

Scientific experts, the Greenlandic party Inuit Ataqatigiit (IA) and local and international environmental organisations are amongst the actors that have pointed to the negative environmental consequences that the large-scale open-pit uranium mine would have. Their main concern is related to the radioactive waste materials given the high radioactive thorium-content of the mineral deposit compared to other mines, findings from a report undertaken by a Dutch expert in technology-evaluation and life cycle analysis of energy systems show [12]. Given the open-pit construction, pollution from mining water and spills from processing materials as well as dust containing radioactive materials risks affecting nearby populated areas including the town of Narsaq with its estimated population of 1374 people (from 01/01/19 see [13]) and beyond, as well as local sheep farms and other agricultural production [12]. Particularly given strong arctic winds, polluting dust poses a major environmental issue, president for Urani Naamik (No To Uranium) in Narsaq highlights in a joint press statement released by a group of environmental organisations [12]. Long-term widespread radioactive pollution therefore makes up the major risk in the Kuannersuit mining project, especially given how prone the Arctic environment is to pollution with its slow recovery rate [14]. A key issue in the Dutch energy expert’s report concerns the planned tailings dams in the nearby Taseq lake, the allocated storage for the radioactive waste materials from the mine [15]. Contamination of groundwater, rivers and soil poses a serious risk to the environment and nearby populations if the dams were to leak, overflow or fail altogether, and the report raises the concern that insufficient preventative measures had been taken in the EIA so far [15]. Specifically, the report points to the EIA at the time being including no discussion of the presence of the radioactive material thorium in the mineral ores at Kuannersuit, and consequent presence in the tailings deposited in the lake [15]. This raises concerns as the concentration of thorium in the mineral ores in the Kuannersuit complex is 3-10 times higher than that of uranium, with the consequence of a higher radioactivity in the tailings than predicted [15]. The EIA also does not discuss how repeated freezing-thawing cycles would potentially affect tailing conditions [15]. Environmental issues also include the chemical pollution involved in the mining process and the large amount of emissions produced from the energy usage needed to run the mine, president of environmental organisation Avataq states [12]. Given the close proximity of the project to the town of Narsaq (8km) and nearby farms, the social impact on local residents will likely include dramatic changes to everyday life (Mortensen in [16]), particularly given the importance of farming for local food supply [17]. An open letter sent to Greenland’s Minister of Raw Materials by a coalition of sheep farmers near the planned Kuannersuit project outlines how the mine will negatively impact both the farming and tourism industry in the area while threatening the region’s cultural identity [18]. Interviews with residents in Narsaq also indicated that a significant social impact on the small community was the divisions created by the mining project as well as a major sense of uncertainty, as residents both for and against the project found that it overshadowed the entire community [15].

The Kuannersuit project has become symbolic in the debate and mobilisation against uranium in Greenland. The project is opposed by multiple environmental justice organisations both in  Greenland and Denmark including Urani Naamik (No to Uranium, Greenland), NOAH (Friends of the Earth Denmark), Avataq, The Ecological Council (‘Det Økologiske Råd’), Sustainable Energy (‘Vedvarende Energy’) and Nuup Kangerluata Ikinngutai (‘Friends of Nuuk Fjord’) [12]. In 2009, the association for opposition against uranium mining at Kuannersuit was founded in Narsaq with over 50 members and an elected board, with the aim to influence the political dialogue around uranium mining [19]. Mobilisation against the project increased substantially following the vote to lift the ban on uranium mining, paving the way for the realisation of the Kuannersuit project. Multiple demonstrations were held in Nuuk and Narsaq leading up to the vote on the zero-tolerance uranium policy and following the vote [20, 21, 22, 23], while around 100 people attended a demonstration in Copenhagen in August 2014 [24]. The following year, several environmental groups from Denmark and Greenland released a joint press statement criticising the planned tailings waste disposal in the nearby Taseq lake and other potential environmental impacts [25]. Amongst these organisations, NOAH publically supported a coalition of sheepfarmers in Nasaq and Qassiarsuk who sent an open letter to Greenland’s Minister of Raw Materials in March 2015 stating their disapproval of the project [18]. The same year (2015), environmental justice concerns were formally raised in the ‘Ajorpoq’ report by the Inuit Circumpolar Council (ICC) criticising the public consultation of the project [26]. These worries were re-affirmed in a statement by the UN special rapporteur on human rights and hazardous substances and wastes following a visit to Greenland in 2017 [27]. Greenland’s Urani Naamik (No to Uranium) has also voiced scepticism with the bias of public consultation and information meetings held by GML, which a speaker for the organisation said ‘idealised’ the uranium extraction process [25]. Since the narrow vote to lift the zero-tolerance uranium policy was passed, there have been calls from the party IA to hold a referendum on the question of uranium mining in Greenland [28]. Based on a survey conducted by WWF, a majority of the population think a referendum should be held on the issue of uranium mining in Greenland [29]. However, the survey also found that the Greenlandic population is fairly evenly split over the question of whether to allow the mining of uranium, however with a slight majority in favour [29]. On the 8th of April 2016, demonstrations were held against uranium extraction in nine cities across the country as the debate around the Kuannersuit project intensified [5]. According to the radio channel KNR, between 400 and 500 people attended the protest in the capital Nuuk which has a population of 16.000 people [5]. The project attracted further press attention in 2016 following a dispute between GML and Naalakkersuisut after media was granted access to internal EIA documents that GML had stated were not intended for the public at the time being, and the documents were sent on to the Danish environmental organisation NOAH [30]. The following year in 2017, a vital step in the critical response to the project took place when a Dutch energy expert published his analysis of GML’s first environmental assessment upon being contacted by an alliance of environmental organisations opposing the project [12]. Since its release, the report has been central in much of the questioning from both local residents and environmental organisations with regards to the environmental impacts of the project. More demonstrations were held in Narsaq in May 2018, where around 50 people mobilised against uranium mining in Greenland [31], and Urani Naamik called for demonstrations against uranium mining in nine cities across Denmark and Greenland in April 2019, specifically targeting the GML project [32]. Most recently over the summer of 2019, GML received criticism from environmental organisations and Naalakkersuisut for filing a complaint about the processing time in April 2019 and contacting government officials unrelated to the department dealing with EIAs [11]. This was widely criticised  as a way of undermining the department’s authority and the EIA procedure [11].

The outcome of the project remains unclear in 2019, as the GML’s 4th version of the EIA is currently being assessed (status 15/10/19). GML continues to push forward in the procedure of attaining their exploitation licence for the Kuannersuit project, and it remains to be seen how Naalakkersuisut will decide in this case.

The project’s deposit is estimated to contain a total of 1,010 Mt of resources [7]. Its initial production life is set to 37 years [1], however GML has previously pointed out the potential for a much longer lifespan of up to 100 years [15]. Mineral resources to be mined from this project include REEs, uranium, zinc and fluor amongst other minor bi-products [1]. The main two components that will be mined are rare earth elements (REEs) and uranium which are primarily situated in the upper layers of the rock-type lujavrite in the mining complex [1]. The composition of the mineral deposits at Kuannersuit means that REEs cannot be extracted separately from uranium, which results in radioactive by-products being unavoidable [34]. The mineral ore at Kuannersuit also contains the radioactive material thorium with a concentration 3-10 times higher than the uranium found in the ore [15].

In 2015, the original investment cost of the project was estimated at US$1.36bn, however this has since been heavily reduced following GML’s cost optimisation studies, and the most recent estimate lies at US$505m in 2019 [35]. Chinese Shenghe Resources Holding Co. is the project’s largest investor holding 12.5% of the company’s shares [36]. According to GML, REEs are predicted to make up 80% of the project’s revenue, while uranium, zinc and fluorspar as by-products would make up the rest [37].