Study on EU Needs with Regard to Co-Operation with Greenland
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
` Study on EU Needs with Regard to Co-operation with Greenland Final Report Contract No 30-CE-0604902/00-84 – SI2.666954 June 2015 1 This study has been prepared by Milieu Ltd, the Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland (GEUS) and Oeko-Institut e.V. under Contract No 30-CE-0604902/00-84 – SI2.666954. The information and views set out in this study are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official opinion of the Commission. The Commission does not guarantee the accuracy of the data included in this study. Neither the Commission nor any person acting on the Commission’s behalf may be held responsible for the use which may be made of the information contained therein. The authors of this report are: - Milieu: Niall Lawlor, Gijs Nolet, Guillermo Hernandez, Paola Banfi, Mark Mackintosh, Michael Wenborn - GEUS: Lars Lund Sørensen, Karen Hanghøj, Bo Møller Stensgaard, Per Kalvig - Oeko-Institut: Doris Schüler, Gerhard Schmidt, Matthias Buchert, Stefanie Degreif Milieu Ltd (Belgium), Chaussee de Charleroi 112,2 B-1060 Brussels, tel.: +32 2 506 1000; e-mail: [email protected] web address: www.milieu.be. Study on EU Needs with Regard to Co-operation with Greenland Table of Contents Summary .............................................................................................................................. 5 1 Introduction ............................................................................................................ 11 2 Assessing the potential for EU-Greenland co-operation to help the EU meet its raw materials supply needs .................................................................................. 14 2.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................... 14 2.2 Analysis of Greenland’s raw materials production potential and performance to date ...................................................................................................................... 14 2.3 Important overarching contextual factors for any co-operation concept with Greenland ................................................................................................................ 28 2.4 Identification and assessment of specific risks for EU-Greenland co-operation on raw materials ...................................................................................................... 32 3 Possible benefits to the EU of greater co-operation with Greenland in the area of raw materials ..................................................................................................... 60 3.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................... 60 3.2 Assessing the needs of the EU’s industry with regard to Greenland’s raw material potential .................................................................................................... 60 3.3 Other, non-commercial benefits for the EU of increasing co-operation with Greenland on raw materials .................................................................................. 67 3.4 Identification and analysis of possible high-level ‘safeguards’ to serve EU interests ...................................................................................................................... 74 4 Identification and assessment of policy measures for EU engagement in the Greenland’s raw materials sector ........................................................................ 81 4.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................... 81 4.2 EU-Greenland Co-operation within the Context of EU Arctic and Raw Materials Policy ........................................................................................................ 81 4.3 Identification and Assessment of Possible Measures & Policy Options ............. 87 5 Towards an EU-Greenland Raw Materials Co-operation Concept.................. 105 5.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................. 105 5.2 Improving Investment Conditions/Adequacy of Infrastructure ....................... 106 5.3 Enhancing Geological Knowledge ..................................................................... 117 5.4 Increasing administrative capacity to allow for full participation in a raw materials co-operation arrangement................................................................. 131 5.5 Helping tackle socio-economic and environmental risks associated with mining ...................................................................................................................... 137 6 Conclusions .......................................................................................................... 142 Bibliography .................................................................................................................... 144 3 List of Figures Figure 1: Study tasks & methodological steps .................................................................... 11 Figure 2: Greenland main geological areas with important known economic potential and giant ore deposits. ........................................................................................ 15 Figure 3: Selected Greenland deposits/ constant contained metal plotted against other global deposits. ............................................................................................................ 16 Figure 4: Mineral criticality based on the evaluation carried out in 2013/14 by the European Commission .......................................................................................................... 17 Figure 5: Map of active mineral exploration and exploitation licences as of 9 January 2015 .......................................................................................................................................... 20 Figure 6: Evolution of the number of granted or under evaluation mineral licences in Greenland 1996-2015 ............................................................................................................ 21 Figure 7: Number of companies and partners conducting exploration and exploitation activities in Greenland, by country of origin ................................................ 21 Figure 8: Typical evolution of mineral exploration projects and required development costs ......................................................................................................................................... 23 Figure 9: Mining, separation, extraction and finishing stages and their potential locations .................................................................................................................................. 25 Figure 10: Geological map with selected mineral occurrences .................................... 27 Figure 11: Overview of ‘risk’ categories and specific possible risks ................................ 33 Figure 12: Prices for rare earth elements over the past five years .................................. 37 Figure 13: Development of transport routes to the Arctic ............................................... 42 Figure 14: Example of minerals value chain – Rare earth production ........................... 64 Figure 15: Example of REE magnet supply international chain and country share (Oko-institut, 2011) ................................................................................................................. 76 Figure 16: Rare Earths Value Chain ..................................................................................... 79 Figure 17: EU Policy/Programmes relevant to mining and potentially open to Greenland ............................................................................................................................... 90 Figure 18: Project Ideas for EU co-operation with Greenland in the area of Raw Materials ................................................................................................................................ 105 List of Tables Table 1: EU critical raw materials (2010/14 list) - occurrences and potential in Greenland ............................................................................................................................... 18 Table 2: Summary of estimates on copper, nickel and zinc ............................................ 19 Table 3: Number of exploration licences by target commodity (March 2015) ............ 22 Table 4: Common stages in mineral projects from exploration to production ............. 23 Table 5: Status for some of the most advanced mineral projects in Greenland .......... 26 Table 6: The most common elements of infrastructure that will be required in connection with mining in Greenland ................................................................................ 43 Table 7: Main benefits for selected sectors ........................................................................ 64 Table 8: EU expected metal requirements linked to decarbonisation technology, 2020 and 2030 ........................................................................................................................ 68 Table 9: Examples of the use of critical raw materials in the EU defence sector ......... 70 4 Summary There is significant potential for mining of raw materials in Greenland. This potential is considerable both in terms of volume / value as well as in the breadth of minerals available.