The exploitation of rare earths and uranium, an electoral issue in Greenland

Audio 01:44

A former mining colony at Qulissat in Greenland.

(Illustrative photo).

De Agostini via Getty Images - DEA / M. SANTINI

By: Marie-Pierre Olphand Follow

5 mins

Today is election day in Greenland.

Municipal and legislative elections.

And among the stakes of these local elections, there is the exploitation of the subsoil and in particular of a mixed uranium-rare earths mine.

What we call rare earths, these are 17 metals which are not rare, but highly prized by the defense sector, and the automotive industry.

Publicity

This is a subject that has been controversial for years in Greenland.

For sovereignty and environmental issues in particular, the exploitation of rare earths is very polluting.

But also because the major project for the exploitation of rare earths is linked to the extraction of uranium on the same site.

If the Greenlandic party which is not in favor of uranium mining wins the vote on Tuesday, the Kvanefjeld mining project, a mixed uranium-rare earth site, may no longer be relevant - Australia's Greenland Minerals in in which the Chinese Shenge Resources has a stake is prepositioned to operate this project.

A policy change would also impact the French group Orano, holder of two exploration permits for uranium deposits elsewhere, still south of Greenland.

Tensions are such that the public meetings in recent months on the commissioning of the Kvanefjeld site have been for some very disrupted.

Greenland, a mine of heavy rare earths

This project is located in an agricultural and tourist region.

And " 

it is mainly because the marketing of the region takes a hit that the subject is so debated 

", explains Damien Degeorges, consultant in Reykjavik and author of

Rare Earths: political issue of the twentieth century

 published by L'Harmattan

.

Greenland has only 56,000 inhabitants, a very small economy, so small projects and

a fortiori

large ones can have an immense impact which very quickly affects security issues.

The interest of Greenland is that there are heavy rare earths there, those which are more expensive to extract, which are used in the military industry and which are today mainly produced by China.

The Middle Kingdom is the leader in the sector with 70% of the global production of rare earths, and the leader in the transformation of these metals into magnets.

The United States restarted its production of rare earths at the Mountain Pass mine in 2018, but it ships all of its production sent to China, because it cannot be processed on site.

Discussions are underway to reopen treatment sites that had been closed, in Texas in particular, and thus reduce dependence on China.

China still holds the reins

For certain rare earths whose use was not essential, it is the case of light bulbs, substitutes have been found, but for wind power - a magnet is in the motor of the mechanism - or the electric car c ' is more complicated.

If Renault has succeeded in developing an engine without rare earths, " 

we must however expect an explosion in demand

 " according to John Seaman, researcher at IFRI - French Institute for International Relations.

Bargaining with China therefore remains essential for the moment on the subject, he

believes, 

unless more substitutes are found or more mining projects are developed outside China ...

 ".

As is the case now in Burma and tomorrow perhaps in Greenland.

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