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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Environment
Patrick Greenfield in Narsaq and Phoebe Weston

Fearing toxic waste, Greenland ended uranium mining. Now, they could be forced to restart - or pay $11bn

Illustration of an area of Greenland on the coast annotated with labels showing company names and values in dollars
Greenland is home to one of the largest undeveloped deposits of rare-earth minerals and uranium in the world. Illustration: Israel Vargas/The Guardian

From the iceberg-filled bay, the mountains above the town of Narsaq, in south-west Greenland, appear unremarkable. In the September warmth, clumps of grass cling to the smooth, grey peaks shaped over centuries by an enormous ice cap that lurks behind the fjords on the horizon.

Brightly coloured homes are scattered around the shoreline below, home to a community of just over 1,300 people. Were it not for a mining outhouse on the edge of town, there would be little indication of the potential riches in the rock.

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