Greenland Minerals Ltd (ASX:GGG) (OTCMKTS:GDLNF) (FRA:G7P) has advised that the Government of Greenland has provided an update on the statutory public consultation for the Kvanefjeld Rare Earth Project, with the consultation period previously scheduled to conclude on June 1 now extended to September 13, 2021.
The government has stated the extension is to enable further public meetings to take place that will have political representation.
Greenland Minerals’ first round of public meetings, held in February 2021, were attended by representatives of Greenland’s Ministry for Mineral Resources, the Environmental Agency for Mineral Resource Activities and the Danish Centre for Environment, but did not have political representation.
The next series of public meetings will be held in Igaliku, Nanortalik, Narsaq, Narsarsuaq, Qaqortoq and Qassiarsuk in southern Greenland during weeks 34 and 35.
These meetings will have political (key ministers), administrative and company representation.
Application process continues
The government has also confirmed subsequent casework on the processing of the Kvanefjeld exploitation license application will be completed, which involves the preparation of a White Paper based on consultation responses.
Public consultation is a statutory process for mining projects in Greenland, completed over a minimum of eight weeks.
The consultation process for the Kvanefjeld project was initiated by the previous Greenland government on December 17 2020, after the exploitation license application was accepted as meeting Greenland’s Guidelines for Public Consultation.
Environmental and Social Impact Assessments completed for Kvanefjeld are key application documents and these have been through an extensive, thorough review-revision process over a five-year period by the Greenland government and their independent scientific advisors.