Doing Business in Greenland - Book - Page 13
7 Mining in Greenland
7.1 Mineral resources
The target minerals of current
mining projects are, among others,
copper, gold, ilmenite, iron, lead,
molybdenum,
nickel,
zinc,
corundum
(ruby
and
pink
sapphires) and rare earth elements.
Also, a range of “critical metals” on
the EU list are present in
Greenland, e.g., graphite.
Mineral resources in Greenland
belong to the Government of
Greenland,
and
prospecting,
exploration and exploitation of
mineral resources may only be
carried out under a licence granted
by the Government of Greenland.
7.2 Legal framework
Exploration and exploitation of
mineral resources in Greenland are
governed by the Mineral Resources
Act (Greenland Parliament Act of 7
December
2009
on
Mineral
Resources and Mineral Resource
1
Activities) which is the main
framework act.
In 2021, the Greenland Parliament
passed
the
Uranium
Act
(Inatsisartut Act No. 20 of 1
December 2021), which bans
prospecting,
exploration
and
exploitation of uranium. It is also
prohibited to carry on prospecting,
exploration and exploitation of
other minerals than uranium if the
average uranium content of the
total resource is 100 ppm or more
by weight.
7.3 Authorities
The Ministry of Mineral Resources
and Justice (MMR) is responsible
for strategy, policymaking and
legal aspects of mineral resources
in Greenland, as well as social
impact assessments (SIA).
The Mineral Licence and Safety
Authority
(MLSA)
is
the
administrative
authority
for
licences, mineral resource activities
and safety matters, supervision
and inspections.
1 A new mining act has been put out for consultation and will be presented to the
Parliament of Greenland during the spring session 2023 aiming to come into
force in July 2023.Overall, the licence regime is maintained, but certain changes
are expected.
13
The Environmental Agency for the
Mineral Resources Area (EAMRA)
under the Ministry of Environment
and Nature is the administrative
authority for environmental matters
relating to mineral activities, among
other things environmental impact
assessments (EIA).
