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Greenland might open a vast rare earth deposit to mining. Locals say it could destroy their way of life
As Trump threatens to acquire the Danish island territory, residents of a small town are worried about an Australian mining company’s plansIsolated among icebergs, fjords and mountains in remote southern Greenland, Narsaq is a town that does not worry too much about what the outside world thinks, says Ane Egede.In her home town of about 1,300 people, there is not much in the way of shops, but there are plentiful opportunities to hunt, fish, and pick berries and herbs. “We are very close to the nature,” she says. “The town is clean and a beautiful place to live in. We live a little bit old fashioned. We’re not so materialistically minded.”The town of Narsaq with the Kvanefjeld plateau in the background. Kvanefjeld is part of the Ilímaussaq complex in southern Greenland and is the second-largest rare earth deposit and the sixth-largest uranium deposit in the world. It is the subject of a legal dispute between mining-license holder Energy Transition Minerals, an Australian mining company, and Denmark and Greenland. The mining license was withdrawn after the 2021 election, when Greenland banned uranium mining. Continue reading...
As Trump threatens to acquire the Danish island territory, residents of a small town are worried about an Australian mining company’s plans
Isolated among icebergs, fjords and mountains in remote southern Greenland, Narsaq is a town that does not worry too much about what the outside world thinks, says Ane Egede.
In her home town of about 1,300 people, there is not much in the way of shops, but there are plentiful opportunities to hunt, fish, and pick berries and herbs. “We are very close to the nature,” she says. “The town is clean and a beautiful place to live in. We live a little bit old fashioned. We’re not so materialistically minded.”
The town of Narsaq with the Kvanefjeld plateau in the background. Kvanefjeld is part of the Ilímaussaq complex in southern Greenland and is the second-largest rare earth deposit and the sixth-largest uranium deposit in the world. It is the subject of a legal dispute between mining-license holder Energy Transition Minerals, an Australian mining company, and Denmark and Greenland. The mining license was withdrawn after the 2021 election, when Greenland banned uranium mining. Continue reading...
