Materialising a Mining Project: Past, Present, and Alternative Energy Futures through the Lens of Kvanefjeld

• Main Author: Abraham, F
• Other Authors: Molyneux-Hodgson, Susan
• Format: Doctoral or Postdoctoral Thesis
• Language: unknown
• Published: University of Exeter 2023
• Subjects: Arctic; Greenland
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10871/132484

The ongoing development of the Kvanefjeld mining project in southern Greenland is analysed, using ideas drawn from STS and environmental sociology, as a means to investigate social dimensions of potential energy futures. The Arctic space is estimated to be home of one of the largest rare earth elements (REEs) deposits in the world, materials that are essential to much of everyday 21st century life and to the success of a ‘sustainable’, green energy revolution. The geological deposit also contains uranium and thorium, elements that are central to the pursuit of nuclear energy production. Debates over mining of the deposit, with protests led by environmental NGOs and support found across other social groups, have surfaced at different times over the past 60 years. Using a mix of fieldwork, interviews and documentary analysis, I sought to understand why certain aspects of the project e.g. uranium exploitation, have been heavily criticised, while others e.g. thorium exploitation, have received little scrutiny. I explored why the debates on nuclearity ebb and flow with time and what factors were at play at different times. I then layered this account by analysing the place of REEs and their contribution to the green technology industry. Taken together, I consider the environmental paradox this mining project creates. The story of uranium at Kvanefjeld is not new. The new era of development follows two previous phases that I have identified: one occurring from the 1950s to the 1960s, and one from the 1970s to the 1980s. These three phases of debate on uranium extraction each draw on the position of Denmark towards nuclear energy at different times, and I find that mining project discourse shifts around nationalism and the changing relations between Greenland and Denmark. Then, drawing from Actor-Network Theory, I show that the most recent occurrence of the controversy has mobilised a set of actants analogous to the previous phase, as well as (re)created similar power relations. I found that the current controversy ...