Key Takeaways
President Trump’s discussions regarding the importance of Greenland to U.S. strategic, national security, and economic interests have caused a flurry of public interest in Greenland.
While Greenland prohibits oil and gas exploration, it is enormously rich in mineral wealth, which the Chinese and others have been pursuing.
Despite much of the country being covered in ice, Greenland’s known reserves of rare earth minerals are almost equal to those of the United States.
Growing interest from Russia and China and its location near potential trade routes increase its importance to the United States.
President Trump sees Greenland as having strategic national security value to the United States due to its location near potential trade routes and possession of rare and undiscovered mineral assets needed for laptops, cell phones, wind turbines, electric vehicles, weapons, and much more. Greenland’s key mineral deposits include rare earth elements, graphite, copper, nickel, zinc, gold, diamonds, iron ore, and tungsten. A 2023 survey indicated that 25 of 34 minerals deemed “critical raw materials” by the European Commission can be found in Greenland. Trump stated, “we need Greenland for economic security.” Acquiring territory is not new to the United States, having acquired Alaska from Russia in 1867 and purchased Louisiana from France in 1803, as well as other acquisitions.
The United States is blessed with vast amounts of fossil fuels. Still, it has been less successful in developing its minerals, giving China a stronghold, particularly in processing. Three decades ago, for example, the United States produced a third of the world’s rare earth elements, and China produced about 40 percent. By 2011, China had 97 percent of the world’s production, which its government has limited whenever it has found it advantageous to do so. The United States has opened some new mineral mines, but the Biden-Harris administration has made it difficult, revoking licenses, delaying permits, and aiding environmentalists in their opposition to mines spread across the United States.
Greenland’s known rare earth reserves are almost equivalent to those of the entire United States, and much more is likely to lie beneath its icebound landscape. If developed, Greenland could meet at least 25 percent of global rare earth demand well into the future. Three of Greenland’s biggest rare earth mineral deposits are in the southern Gardar province. Rare earth elements are key for permanent magnets used in electric vehicles and wind turbines.
The Tanbreez Mine on the southern tip of Greenland has a large deposit of eudialyte ore, rich in rare earth elements such as neodymium, cerium, lanthanum, and yttrium. It also has gallium, a critical mineral recently placed under export controls by China because of its military applications. There is concern over the Tanbreez Mine’s possible sale to a Chinese company, as a Chinese company is already the biggest shareholder in a rare earth minerals project at Kvanefjeld, on the same network of fjords as Tanbreez. China’s growing interest in Greenland’s mineral wealth and its interest in “cornering” world markets, which allows them to influence the investment decisions of other mines worldwide, is undoubtedly part of President Trump’s ongoing interest in Greenland, which he expressed during his first term.
Investors and mining companies are also searching for critical minerals in Greenland. Several billionaires, including Jeff Bezos, Michael Bloomberg, and Bill Gates, are betting that Greenland has enough critical minerals to power hundreds of millions of electric vehicles.
Occurrences of graphite are reported from many localities in Greenland. GreenRoc Mining, the UK-headquartered firm developing mining projects in Greenland, announced a breakthrough at its Amitsoq graphite project. Purification test work carried out by GreenRoc’s Germany-based technical consultants indicated a graphite purity of 99.97% that could reset what it means for a mineral product to be “pure.” The 99.97% purity assay exceeds the purity required to produce the graphite used to manufacture anodes for EV batteries. Amitsoq hosts one of the highest-grade graphite deposits in the world, with a resource estimated at 8.28 million metric tons, and the combination of this vast deposit and a process that can deliver such pure products could make this one of the most productive and profitable mines in the world. Natural graphite is primarily used in EV batteries and steelmaking.
Below is information regarding Greenland’s other main mineral deposits based on data from Greenland’s Mineral Resources Authority:
Copper
According to the Mineral Resources Authority, most copper deposits have seen only limited exploration. There are underexplored areas in the north-east and central-east of the island. London-listed 80 Mile seeks to develop the Disko-Nuussuaq deposit with copper, nickel, platinum, and cobalt.
Nickel
According to the Mineral Resources Authority, traces of nickel accumulations are numerous. Major miner Anglo American was granted a five-year exploration license in western Greenland in mid-2019 and has been looking for nickel deposits, among others.
Zinc
Zinc is mainly found in a geologic formation stretching over 2,500 kilometers in the north. Companies have sought to develop the Citronen Fjord zinc and lead project, billed as one of the world’s largest undeveloped zinc resources.
Gold
Most prospective areas for gold potential are around the Sermiligaarsuk fjord in the country’s south. Amaroq Minerals launched a gold mine last year in Mt. Nalunaq in the Kujalleq Municipality.
Iron Ore
Iron ore deposits are located at Isua in southern West Greenland, Itilliarsuk in central West Greenland, and North West Greenland along the Lauge Koch Kyst.
Titanium-Vanadium
Known deposits of titanium and vanadium are in the southwest, the east, and south. Titanium is used for commercial, medical, and industrial purposes, while vanadium mainly produces specialty steel alloys. The most important industrial vanadium compound, vanadium pentoxide, is a catalyst for producing sulfuric acid.
Tungsten
Tungsten is used for several industrial applications and is mainly found in the central east and northeast of the country, with assessed deposits in the south and west.
Uranium
In 2021, the left-wing Inuit Ataqatigiit party banned uranium mining, effectively halting the development of the Kuannersuit rare earths project, which has uranium as a byproduct.
Impediments to Extraction
Some extraction is currently limited or banned due to environmental policies. Oil and natural gas extraction is banned in Greenland, and the development of its mining sector has been snarled in red tape and opposition from indigenous people. Greenland also lacks infrastructure—once out of the cities, there are no roads or railroads through the countryside. Travel is by boat or air, not vehicle. The lack of established infrastructure could prove a challenge for mining operations, increasing the time for development, which, on average, can take about 10 years from discovery to production. Mineral projects spur infrastructure investment in remote regions, as has been the case for the Red Dog Mine in Alaska, one of the world’s largest zinc mines, operating in similar conditions owned by indigenous residents. In 2021, Greenland passed a law limiting the amount of uranium in mined resources, stopping the development of a rare earth element mine in Southern Greenland. The Greenland government owns and administers land to residents, and as a result, closed, private mining sites are a cultural anomaly, and permissions or access limitations must be dealt with carefully.
Conclusion
Greenland is an underexplored, mineral-rich country with a competitive licensing framework, stable political environment, low investment risk, and a pro-mining government. Still, it lacks the infrastructure needed for successful mining operations, which will extend the time from exploration to production. President Trump sees the importance of Greenland to future mineral wealth, which is required not only for renewable technologies, electric vehicles, laptops, and cell phones but also for military weapon manufacturing. It is also an extremely strategic location for national security purposes. President Trump is visionary in looking towards possibilities for the people of Greenland and the United States.
