Greenland has approved uranium mining in the country after an extremely tight vote.
Its parliament voted 15 to 14 to lift the decades long prohibition.
The announcement is welcome news for one Australian miner, Greenland Minerals and Energy, which has both uranium and rare earths at its Kvanefjeld project ion the southern tip of the country.
The project is being touted by the company as having the potential to be one of the world’s largest rare earth producing mines, and is estimated to contain 619 million tonnes of mineral resources.
Part of the increased interest in mining Greenland has been tied to the country’s significant ice loss.
Average ice loss in Greenland since 1993 has been about 120 billion tonnes per year, with evidence the rate may be increasing.
While still administered by Denmark, Greenland’s recent change to a self-governance structure, where it controls its own mining laws, has also helped increase mining interest.
The Arctic nation has been on a mission over the last few years to attract more miners, and their investment, into the country.
Greenland’s deposits remain relatively undeveloped due to the country’s previous focus on fishing, but with global fisheries turning down it is looking to other resources to drive growth.