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For months, the world has puzzled concerning the acknowledged purpose of the president of america to amass Greenland. Is he merely expressing a want to make America larger once more when it comes to territorial space? Is it a query of safety coverage? Or are important minerals—and particularly Greenland’s immense uncommon earth riches—a key issue?The primary two questions can’t actually be answered with no fuller understanding of the administration’s motives and techniques than is at present obtainable publicly. However for that third query, there exists a wealth of knowledge and context, each historic and modern-day.Let’s begin with the fashionable day. U.S. industries, like these of any developed financial system, rely upon important supplies. A number of consideration now could be centered on the uncommon earths, a bunch of components of bizarre significance due to their indispensability in important industrial, protection, and industrial functions. Roughly 90 p.c of processed uncommon earths come from China, creating supply-chain vulnerabilities that many nations at the moment are attempting to keep away from, significantly since China introduced restrictions on the export of heavy uncommon earths in April 2025. Systematic research have indicated that Greenland has 10 necessary deposits of uncommon earth components.However in mining, it’s the main points that matter. To know the worth of a minerals deposit it’s necessary to think about the historical past and to make a actuality test of documented sources. The details and the apparent conclusions don’t all the time attain decision-makers, traders, and the media.Greenland Is the World’s Greatest Island, However It’s Not as Massive as You ThinkGreenland is the biggest island on this planet, however folks typically get an exaggerated impression of how massive it’s as a result of the generally used Mercator projection distorts the dimensions of landmasses near the poles. Greenland is about 2 million sq. kilometers. Nevertheless, the ice-free half—which might way more feasibly be mined than the opposite half—is roughly the dimensions of California, and with none scenic coastal highways. Touring between settlements is feasible solely by boat or airplane.Greenland has had 9 totally different mines since World Struggle II, however just one, for the mineral anorthosite, is energetic immediately. One other one, for gold, is predicted to succeed in full manufacturing later this yr.Greenland’s solely totally operational mine as of Might 2025 extracts anorthosite rock at a website known as White Mountain, on the central west coast of the island.Flemming Getreuer ChristiansenGreenland took over the dealing with of all mining licenses from Denmark in 1998 and full authority in 2010 after self-governance was launched. Greenland has developed a contemporary licensing system for mining with a component of competitors between corporations and clear procedures for public enter on environmental and socioeconomic issues. The variety of licenses granted by the federal government has been excessive and comparatively fixed for a few years, however the stage of precise actions, corresponding to drilling, has been low over the previous decade. A number of licenses have been relinquished or revoked with none mining ever going down.The explanations are many. A serious one is lack of human sources. The inhabitants of Greenland is barely 57,000, scattered round an space thrice the dimensions of Texas. One more reason is excessive operational prices as a result of harsh local weather and lack of infrastructure. Others embody restrictions favoring labor from Greenland or Denmark. Nonetheless others embody puzzling latest bureaucratic modifications within the authorized framework of mining associated to the necessities for useful resource assessments and feasibility research, and likewise environmental and socioeconomic necessities for acquiring an exploitation license. Advanced royalty schemes and comparatively excessive company taxes contribute to uncertainty and dangers that many traders have been unwilling to take. That is at a time when Greenland sorely wants investments to gasoline its goals of financial and political independence from Denmark.In the summertime of 2021, the Greenland authorities mentioned no to issuing additional petroleum licenses. It didn’t matter very a lot as a result of by then, all the biggest oil and gasoline corporations had already left Greenland on account of declining oil costs and rising prices brought on by the modifications to laws. Because the Seventies, some 40 corporations have been concerned, however they drilled solely 15 exploration wells and made no industrial discoveries.The Ivittuut mine, seen right here in 1953, extracted large quantities of cryolite throughout World Struggle II. Ivittuut was one of many few locations on this planet recognized to have deposits of cryolite, which was crucial for the smelting of aluminum. The mine closed in 1987.Kaj Skall Sørensen/Danish Arctic InstituteStill, there have been some industrial actions. Throughout World Struggle II, the Ivittuut mine in South Greenland produced cryolite for aluminum manufacturing and was essential for the U.S. struggle effort. Since that point, U.S. corporations have proven solely a modest curiosity in Greenland; of the overall of 250 corporations which were granted exploration licenses over the previous a number of a long time, 10 have been American. Of fifty corporations from varied nations which were drilling in Greenland, 4 had been from america, and of the 15 corporations which have utilized for an exploitation license, exactly zero had been American. So traditionally the U.S. fingerprint on mineral exploration in Greenland is negligible, although the door has been open for many years.The Deposits Are Massive however Have Low Concentrations of Uncommon Earth ElementsAccording to the European Union, Greenland has nice untapped potential for 25 of the 34 minerals recognized within the Union’s official listing of uncooked supplies, together with uncommon earth components, graphite, platinum group metals, and niobium. Taking a look at these in additional element, nonetheless, a extra advanced image emerges. In 2023, an investigationfor the Heart for Mineral Sources and Supplies of the Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland discovered that Greenland’s mineral sources included every part from minor occurrences to substantial deposits scattered across the island.Of Greenland’s 10 necessary uncommon earth deposits, solely two, Kvanefjeld (Kuannersuit) and Kringlerne (Killavaat Alannguat), have attracted a lot consideration.Regardless of being situated only a few miles aside in the identical advanced in South Greenland, these two uncommon earth deposits are very totally different for all parameters: geology and mineralogy, stage of exploration, and documented sources. They’re alike, nonetheless, in that each deposits have some critical drawbacks in comparison with energetic mines or superior tasks elsewhere within the West.The Kvanefjeld plateau, close to the southern tip of Greenland, is the positioning of huge deposits of uncommon earth oxides, uranium, thorium, and different components of commercial significance.Jan Richard Heinicke/laif/ReduxKvanefjeld is the one mission in Greenland with well-documented reserves, however it suffers from–or, some would say, might doubtlessly profit from–a excessive content material of uranium and thorium.In 2021, when the mission was within the last section of getting an exploitation license, the Greenlandic authorities dug in its heels and made it unlawful to mine deposits with greater than 100 elements per million of uranium. The brand new laws had been used towards the Australian firm behind the Kvanefjeld mission, rendering nugatory years of heavy investments; greater than US $100 million was reportedly spent on drilling and different work.The corporate filed a request for arbitration in 2022, and in 2024 it commenced authorized proceedings towards the Greenland and Danish governments. It could be years earlier than these instances are resolved. Within the meantime, this case is prone to hurt funding in Greenland as a result of local weather of excessive political threat it suggests.The uncommon earths on the Kringlerne deposit are contained inside an igneous rock known as kakortokite.Jan Richard Heinicke/laif/ReduxAt Kringlerne there are a lot decrease concentrations of uranium. The privately owned firm that has invested within the website, Tanbreez, claims that it’s the largest deposit of its type on this planet, however that perception is predicated on little or no drilling. In 2020, the corporate received an exploration license despite not having supplied documentation of sources, up to date research of feasibility, or of environmental and socioeconomic influence. Deadlines for offering monetary safety and plans for mining and closure had been prolonged for a few years. Tanbreez was partly taken over by a New York–based mostly firm registered on the NASDAQ, and the brand new house owners had been obligated to observe worldwide requirements and disclose a confidential useful resource estimate from 2016. The report revealed significantly extra disappointing numbers with regard to ore grade and different traits.Nor do Greenland’s deposits fare nicely as compared with different mines or deposits. Typical ore grades at profitable mines or engaging deposits are between 4 and eight p.c uncommon earths. The ore on the mines at Mount Weld in Australia and Mountain Go in California, and the deposits at Nolans Bore in Australia and Bear Lodge in Wyoming, all fall inside that vary. In Kvanefjeld the quantity is 1.4 p.c, and in Kringlerne, it dips as little as 0.38 p.c. The Greenlandic mines would consequently require bigger open pits and way more power for crushing, separation, and refining, which might inevitably drive up prices for establishing mines and for truly working them.Nonetheless, the latest U.S. curiosity in Greenland led to some stunning reactions on the inventory market, mixed with excessive volatility. The share value of Kvanefjeld tripled after intense buying and selling at first of 2025. The share value of Kringlerne has dropped considerably because the new house owners had been listed on the NASDAQ, however with many ups and downs following all kinds of inventory bulletins that referenced miscellaneous analyses of outdated cores.Greenland’s Flirtations With China Might BackfireAfter the Trump administration touched off a tariff struggle, the geopolitical skirmishing between america and China over uncommon earths grew to become a way more sophisticated conflagration involving america, the European Union, and China. And the Greenland authorities has continued to fan the flames by courting Chinese language funding. In March, for instance, Greenland’s overseas minister, Vivian Motzfeldt, reportedly recognized nearer cooperation with China as a precedence, and even touted the potential for a free commerce settlement between Greenland and China. In accordance with a report in The Diplomat, Motzfeldt’s actions had been ”largely pushed by the assumption…{that a} mining growth, fueled by Chinese language funding, was probably the most reasonable path towards independence from Denmark—a purpose shared by most Greenlandic events.” Perhaps so, however such strikes have been broadly perceived as a provocation towards Denmark and america. No matter their motivation, they may very nicely result in elevated U.S. strain. For america it might be a geostrategic nightmare if China opened a mine in a distant a part of Greenland, with a city, communication strains, harbor, and an airfield that might clearly be used for functions aside from useful resource extraction and export.Since Greenland took management of its mineral sources, Denmark has been reluctant to get entangled in mining tasks. That would very nicely change. Denmark and the E.U. might come beneath strain to spend money on much-needed infrastructure and power tasks and supply loans on extra favorable situations, if for no different purpose than to maintain america at bay.Although the scenario is extremely unstable, it’s necessary to strive, at the least, to separate the geopolitical posturing from the realities of mining. In that vein, it’s secure to say there might be no working uncommon earth mines in Greenland throughout the time period of Donald J. Trump.From Your Website ArticlesRelated Articles Across the Net
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