Doing Business in Greenland - Book - Page 16
8.4 License regime
Standard terms apply to mineral
prospecting
and
exploration
licences
(including
application
procedures).
8.4.1 Prospecting licence
A prospecting licence may be
granted for large pre-defined
areas for a five-year period and
may be extended by up to 5 years
at a time (max 15 years in total) on
a non-exclusive basis. This licence
is typically used in early exploration
phases. A prospecting licence
carries
no
exploration
commitments.
8.4.2 Exploration licence
An exploration licence is granted
on an exclusive basis for a specific
area, precluding mineral activities
within the same area by other
parties (except certain minor
mineral activities by the local
population).
An exploration licence is issued for
an initial term of five years (years
1–5). At the end of this first licence
period, the licensee is entitled to an
extension for the same area for an
additional five years (years 6–10).
Upon expiry of the second licence
period, the licensee may be
1
granted one or more additional
three‑year licences for the same
area, covering years 11–13, 14-16
16
Licence
Prospecting
Exploration
Exploitation
Duration
5 years
+ 2 x 5 years
5 years
+ 5 years
+ 4 x 3 years
Up to 30 years
+ 20 years
(max. 15 years)
(max. 22 years)
(max. 50 years)
Exclusivity
No
Yes
Yes
Obligations
None
Exploration
commitments (amount
per year + per sq. kms)
Royalty payment
and payment of
case handling cost
17–19 and 20–22, provided that all
licence conditions have been met.
However, the licensee does not have
a right to have such extensions
granted.
The Government of Greenland may
also set changed licence terms
where the licence period is extended
to a total licence period exceeding 10
years.
An exploration licence is subject to
exploration obligations as laid down
in the standard terms and thus an
obligation to spend a minimum of
exploration expenses per calendar
year.
