Doing Business in Greenland - Book - Page 14
7.4 License regime
Standard terms apply to mineral
prospecting and exploration licences (including application procedures).
7.4.1 Prospecting licence
A prospecting licence may be
granted for large pre-defined
areas for a five-year period on a
non-exclusive basis. This licence is
typically used in early exploration
phases. A prospecting licence
carries
no
exploration
commitments.
7.4.2 Exploration licence
An exploration licence is granted
on an exclusive basis for a specific
area, precluding any mineral
licence rights to the same area to
other parties (except small-scale
activities by the local population).
An exploration licence is granted
for an initial period of five years
(years 1-5). At the expiry of the
first licence period, the licensee is
entitled to be granted an extension
of the licence for the same area for
an additional five years (years 6 to
10). At the expiry of the second
licence period, the licensee may be
granted one or more additional
new
three-year licences for years
1
11-13, 14-16, 17-19 and 20-22 for the
same area, provided that the terms
of the licence have been complied
with. However, the licensee is not
Licence
Prospecting
Exploration
Exploitation
Duration
5 years
Extension:
No
5 (years 1-5)
Extension: + 5 years
(years 6-10)
and additional periods for
3 years at a time (years
11-13, 14-16, 17-19, 20-22)
30 years, or shorter
if stipulated
Extension up to a
total period of 50
years
Exclusivity
No
Yes
Yes
None
Exploration commitments
(amount per year
according to Standard
Terms)
Royalty payment
Obligations
entitled to have such licences
granted.
The
Government
of
Greenland may set changed licence
terms where the licence period is
extended to a total licence period
exceeding 10 years.
An exploration licence is subject to
exploration obligations as laid down
in the standard terms and thus to
spend a minimum of exploration
expenses per calendar year.
7.4.3 Exploitation licence
The licensee of an exploration
licence who has discovered and
delimited deposits that the licensee
intends to exploit, and who has
fulfilled the licence terms and
conditions, is entitled to be granted
an exploitation licence subject to
certain conditions.
If exploitation is assumed to have
significant impact on social conditions and the environment, respectively, it is a condition for obtaining
an exploitation licence that an environmental
impact
assessment
(EIA) and a social impact assessment (SIA) have been put out for
consultation and are approved by
the authorities. In addition, an
Impact Benefit Agreement providing for obligations for the use and
education of Greenland labour and
the use of enterprises must be
entered into with the Government of
Greenland
and
the
local
municipality.
An exploitation licence may only be
granted to a public limited liability
company
(A/S)
domiciled
in
Greenland, which may only perform
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