Greenland strips Chinese company of mining license
Greenland's new government has revealed it stripped Chinese miner General Nice of its license to mine iron ore within the nation's borders.
The left-wing Inuit Ataqatigiit (IA) party revealed on November 22 its intentions to seek new prospects for the Inua mining project in Greenland, an iron ore mine located in the island's southwest region.
Read more: Greenland election casts doubt on future of its mining sector
The party's election back in April cast doubt on the future of the Arctic island's mining sector in a bid to protect its virtually-untapped natural resources owing to its strong environmental stance.
The IA won the election over the centre-left, explicitly pro-mining Siumut party, partially in a bid to take a stronger stance against environmental threats to the island.
General Nice was supposed to oversee the Inua project after having purchased the right from London mining in 2015, becoming the first Chinese firm to win the right to mine in the country.
The government reportedly revoked the miner's license due to inactivity at the site and a failure to make the correct payments, and it will be offering the complex to any other interested parties.
Officials have already requested any geological data is returned and the requisite payment be deposited, and the mining area cleaned up.
"We cannot accept that a licence-holder repeatedly fails to meet agreed deadlines," Greenland's Resources Minister Naaja Nathanielsen said.
The government also recently banned uranium mining in Greenland and effectively stopped further development of the mine at Kuannersuit, one of the largest known rare earth deposits in the world.
Read more: Greenland imposes uranium mining ban, halting huge rare earths project
The complex is owned by Australian-based, Chinese-owned mining company Greenland Minerals and contains large deposits of rare earths, used in the creation of consumer electronics.
The proposal to ban uranium mining was a central pledge in the party's manifesto, and a core campaign promise.
The bill's ascension also promised to impose bans on other radioactive metals, such as thorium.
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