Australia-based Ironbark Zinc received the nod from Greenland to set out exploration plan for the Citronen Project under Section 19-43 Permit.
The Citronen feasibility study proved that production of zinc can be up to 200,000mt a year. The mine has a life-span of 14-years, stated the company press release.
The permission granted by Greenland gives Ironbark an advantage over its peers to establishing Greenland’s first large scale mining operations. The permission ends the 9-year long permitting process covering Ironbark’s exploration license approval, the company said.
The company will wait for the green signal to proceed in the second half of 2021 after which the company will commence mining in summer 2022.
Citronen lead-zinc mine is a high-grade metal project being developed in northern Greenland and is known as one of the world’s biggest undeveloped zinc-lead resources. Ironbark Zinc owns and operates the project for an estimated cost of $514mn.
The Citronen project is currently in early development stage and is anticipated to contain more than 13bn lbs of zinc and lead.