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If realized, the Isua project will be developed as an open pit mine covering an area of 2 km2. To
extract the ore the surrounding inland ice will be removed at an estimated 13.5 tonnes a year. During
the approval process several informational meetings were followed by public hearings held at the
University of Greenland in Nuuk, which is located 150km from the site of the local community in
Isukasia. Local concerns have mounted as to the considerable environmental impact over the course
of the project (Nutall 2012: 27). As Nuttall (2012) expressed after observing the hearing process,
“they were not really hearings at all – they were information sessions – and they highlighted the
reality that Greenland has yet to develop and implement regulatory procedures and public hearings
overseen by an independent review panel that guides decision-making processes.”
Yet the remarks relayed to Nuttall by Greenlanders who attended the meetings went further to
fervently denounce the intentions of the hearing process. A hunter said that the hearing was a “oneway process and the organizers wanted to be in control. They wanted to avoid debate” (as cited in
Nuttall 2012: 29). Another audience member asked, “Have we been bought and can’t change any
decisions that have been made?” (as cited in Nuttall 2012: 30). Others cited issues regarding hunting
areas that are in jeopardy, infringement on indigenous rights, a lack of experts that can oppose the
information and unintelligible materials provided by London Mining.