Greenland has transferred a large iron ore licence to a Chinese company after now-bankrupt British London Mining was unable to fulfil its 30-year commitment to the multi-billion dollar project.

London Mining had been awarded the contract in 2013 but went bust a year later -- when its operations in Sierra Leone were hit by the Ebola epidemic -- and saw its assets acquired by Hong Kong-based General Nice Group.

The government of Greenland, an autonomous territory of Denmark, announced Thursday on its website that the Chinese company will also take over the iron ore contract.

"The Government of Greenland believes that the company will raise the necessary funding... for the development of the concession of Isukasia" in the west of the island, it wrote.

General Nice Development, a mining company that boasts an annual turnover of more than $18 billion (15 billion euros), will continue preparing the site for exploitation.

No start date for the operation has been specified.

The project is still awaiting building permits for some facilities, accommodation for workers and a 65-mile-long road (105 kilometres) that will connect the site to new harbour facilities.