Eclipse Metals welcomes new coalition government in Greenland

Eclipse Metals Ltd (ASX:EPM)  has welcomed the formation of a new government by the Inuit Ataqatigiit (IA) party in Greenland following a national election held earlier this month. IA formed a coalition with the Naleraq party, and its policies are supported by minor parties in parliament. Since winning the election, the IA party has publicly stated it is supportive of responsible mining. Incoming Prime Minister and IA leader Muté Bourup Egede have said in one of its recent statement that mineral exploitation was "a possibility for developing [Greenland's] economy", but the IA policy would exclude exploitation of uranium in Greenland. The IA party has a strong environmental platform that is well-aligned with Eclipse Metals' environmental initiatives. “Working with the new government” Eclipse executive chairman Carl Popal said: "We are looking forward to working with the new Coalition Government to progress the development of the Ivittuut project. "Ivittuut is an industrial mineral and REE project with no uranium mineralisation. “Ivittuut has more than 120 years of mining history, and it is not in a populated urban or farming setting. “We look forward to exploring its potential and working with the new government to develop a new mine or mines in this part of Greenland." Evaluating mine potential In January this year, Eclipse acquired the Ivittuut Project which hosts the historic Ivittuut cryolite mine and undeveloped mineral resources, including a large REE-bearing carbonatite deposit. Between 1865 and 1985 the Ivittuut mine produced 3.8 million tonnes of high-grade cryolite, for use in the aluminium industry, from the world's largest known minable resource of naturally occurring cryolite. Evaluation of past exploration drilling has demonstrated substantial resources of cryolite and fluorite within the mine environs plus a large body of high-grade quartz below the pit floor. Eclipse is evaluating the mine's potential to produce high-grade quartz as well as cryolite-fluorite and iron-zinc mineralisation and to assess the economic potential of the historical tailings dump.