Greenland’s government has said it intends to reject the renewal of Energy Transition Minerals’ (ETM) exploration licence for the Kvanefjeld rare earth project in southern Greenland.

The draft decision, issued by Greenland’s Ministry of Business, Mineral Resources, Energy, Justice and Gender Equality, argues that continued exploration no longer serves a purpose because an exploitation licence cannot be granted under the current legal framework.

At the core of that framework is Greenland’s 2021 Uranium Act, which effectively prohibits uranium mining – a critical issue for Kvanefjeld, where uranium is present alongside rare earth elements.