Left-wing party opposed to mining project wins Greenland vote

Inuit Ataqatigiit leader says mining complex at Kvanefjeld ‘won’t happen’ after landmark election win.

Greenland’s left-wing Inuit Ataqatigiit party pledged its opposition to a large rare-earth mining project on Wednesday after winning a parliamentary election for only the second time in more than four decades. Its comfortable victory cast doubt on the mining complex at Kvanefjeld in the south of the Arctic island and sent a strong signal to international mining companies seeking to exploit Greenland’s vast untapped mineral resources. Inuit Ataqatigiit (IA) won 37 percent of votes in Tuesday’s snap election, compared with 26 percent in the last election, overtaking the governing social democratic Siumut party, which secured 29 percent of votes, according to official results.