{"id":46697,"date":"2026-03-12T07:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-03-12T06:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/danwatch.dk\/without-realizing-it-greenland-has-granted-new-mineral-exploration-licenses-to-a-shady-businessman\/"},"modified":"2026-03-13T14:54:05","modified_gmt":"2026-03-13T13:54:05","slug":"without-realizing-it-greenland-has-granted-new-mineral-exploration-licenses-to-a-shady-businessman","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/danwatch.dk\/en\/without-realizing-it-greenland-has-granted-new-mineral-exploration-licenses-to-a-shady-businessman\/","title":{"rendered":"Without realizing it, Greenland has granted new mineral exploration licenses to a shady businessman"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\u201cActive License.\u201d<\/p>\n\n

That\u2019s what it says in blue in three places next to the company \u201cJohn Wally Resources Greenland\u201d on Greenland\u2019s official license portal.<\/p>\n\n

It shows that the company received its first license to explore a section of Greenland\u2019s subsoil in September, and on January 1 of this year, two additional licenses were granted.<\/p>\n\n

However, there is very little other public information available about John Wally Resources Greenland.<\/p>\n\n

The Danish CVR register indicates that the company was founded on September 4 of last year and that it is a Greenlandic branch of a foreign company named Wally John Resources Limited, which is based on the Isle of Man.<\/p>\n\n

However, there is no information about who is behind it.<\/p>\n\n

The Mineral Resources Authority acknowledged to Danwatch that they did not know either when they granted the license.<\/p>\n\n

But now Danwatch can reveal that the man behind the company is a person whom Australian media, as well as a number of Danish politicians and environmentalists, have been warning<\/a> about for years.<\/p>\n\n

Namely, the controversial mining investor and prospector, Michael Mihran Shemesian. <\/p>\n\n

Also known as \u2018Mick Many Names.\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n\n

According to Australian media, he has, among other things, been involved in mining projects in which Chinese state-affiliated companies have held ownership stakes. In addition, he has been involved in numerous legal disputes. <\/p>\n\n

<\/p>\n\n

And the new information is raising eyebrows among several experts.<\/p>\n\n

Especially because the Mineral Resources Authority states that \u201cthe depth of the vetting is limited\u201d in connection with exploration licenses, and that they were \u201cunaware\u201d<\/em> that Michael Shemesian was behind Wally John Resources Greenland until Danwatch brought it to their attention:<\/p>\n\n

“This is absolutely concerning. I get the impression that licenses are being granted to people whose identities are unknown, and that means there could potentially be someone in some obscure corner of Greenland doing whatever they please. (…) In this specific situation, I fear that the licenses will be used to manipulate the market and therefore will not benefit Greenland,” says Flemming Getreuer Christiansen, who until 2020 was deputy director of the Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland (GEUS) and who now works as a consultant.<\/p>\n\n

Jacob Kaarsbo, a security adviser and former chief analyst at the Danish Defense Intelligence Service, also sharply criticizes the Mineral Resources Authority for not exercising better oversight of the owners:<\/p>\n\n

“This is very serious. We\u2019re navigating shark-infested waters in terms of security policy, and if you don\u2019t monitor the owners, you\u2019ll end up with someone connected to the Chinese state at the helm of the company, or perhaps someone from the Trump administration who wants to use it to undermine the Danish Realm,\u201d he says, continuing:<\/p>\n\n

“If this guy (Shemesian, ed.) can obtain licenses without the Mineral Resources Authority knowing about it, who else could get them?”<\/p>\n\n

A \u201cmystery man\u201d<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n

57-year-old Michael Shemesian is from Perth, Australia, and has been nicknamed \u2018Mick Many Names\u2019 because his name is spelled in at least nine different ways across his numerous mineral investments and complex corporate structures around the world.<\/p>\n\n

\n

Mick Many Names<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Here are some of the names he uses: <\/p>\n\n\n\n