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CNBC
10 hours ago
- Business
- CNBC
Mineral-rich Greenland says it doesn't want to become a great mining nation. Here's why
Greenland has little interest in harnessing its massive resource potential to become a top mining country. The world's largest island has been thrust into the geopolitical spotlight in recent months, with U.S. President Donald Trump repeatedly saying that Washington should control the autonomous Danish territory — even refusing to rule out the use of military or economic force. Trump's pursuit of Greenland comes as mining executives describe the race for the Arctic island's largely untapped extractable resources as an "enormous opportunity." However, Greenland's harsh climate, remote landscape and lack of infrastructure have all been cited as barriers to the island's strategic potential. Naaja Nathanielsen, Greenland's minister for business and mineral resources, told CNBC that exploiting some of the territory's highly prized minerals is "absolutely possible and viable," noting that several mining projects are already underway. "We do have projects underway that I think are very promising: graphite, gold, copper, nickel molybdenum and so on. Rare earths as well," Nathanielsen told CNBC's "Squawk Box Europe" on Friday. "But for Greenland, we are not necessarily interested in becoming a really great mining country. We just really want 5 or 10 active mines at any given time," Nathanielsen said. "We are a very small population so, for us, we don't need the entire country to be covered in mines. We are happy with managing a few and I think that is feasible," she added. Greenland has long pitched itself as a Western alternative to China's near monopoly on rare earth elements. Indeed, a 2023 survey by the Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland (GEUS) found that 25 of the 34 minerals recognized as critical raw materials by the European Commission were found in Greenland. These minerals include graphite, molybdenum and titanium, all of which are expected to play a key role in the pivot to more sustainable energy sources. Earlier this week, mining development firm Critical Metals Corporation announced it had received a letter of interest from the Export-Import Bank of the United States for a loan worth up to $120 million to fund the firm's Tanbreez rare earths mine in southern Greenland. Notably, the funding package marked the Trump administration's first overseas investment in a mining project. Greenland authorities also recently approved a 30-year mining permit to a Danish-French mining group to exploit anorthosite, a rock rich in aluminum, at a site in western Greenland. Separately, Eldur Olafsson, CEO of Greenland-focused mining company Amaroq, described Greenland as "an amazing country" to operate in. "The geology is such that Greenland has traveled around the world through a geological time and gone everywhere — which means that it has an exposure to most mineral resources," Olafsson told CNBC's "Europe Early Edition" on Thursday. "It has a fantastic jurisdiction in relation to regulation. It is based on Nordic principles and law," he added. Asked how the prospect of the U.S. purchasing Greenland could impact the firm's operations and outlook, Olafsson said Greenland's destiny is for Greenlanders to choose. "In the end, I think Greenland will become most likely an independent state, supported by the Nordic countries and supported by the U.S., just like Iceland was," Olafsson said. Greenland's Nathanielsen said the territory has "very high" environmental, social and governance (ESG) standards, in part because of its previous issues with mining pollution. "I think the people of Greenland really support the mining industry, which is quite kind of rare when you look at other jurisdictions. But they do so because they have faith in us having a high environmental standard and taking care of local communities," Nathanielsen said. "And if we start to fold on that, we will also lose the people's support of this industry. For us it is really important. So, I think we have learned from the past," she added.
Yahoo
05-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Minerals, mines, hydrocarbons: Greenland's key but limited resources
The vast autonomous Danish territory of Greenland, coveted by US President Donald Trump, is believed to hold untapped mineral and oil reserves, but on a global scale these amounts are modest and offer only minor potential for exploitation. - Rare earths - Greenland's rare earths are estimated at 36.1 billion tonnes by the Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland (GEUS). Demand for these 17 metals vital for the tech industry is expected to surge in the future, and they are also needed for drones, wind turbines, hard drives, electric cars, telescope lenses and fighter jets. But the territory's rare earths reserves -- that is those that are economically and technically recoverable -- amount to about 1.5 million tonnes, according to the latest report from the US Geological Survey (USGS). This is modest compared to the reserves held by China (44 million tonnes) or Brazil (21 million tonnes), but sufficient enough to attract manufacturers looking to diversify from China's dominance over supply. - Lithium, graphite, uranium - According to GEUS, Greenland's soils also contain graphite, lithium, and copper, three minerals defined by the International Energy Agency (IEA) as critical for the energy transition. The National Geological Survey has estimated graphite resources in Greenland at six million tons, or 0.75 percent of the global total calculated by USGS. According to a May 2024 IEA report, China "dominates the entire production chain" of this mineral, which is used in both batteries and the nuclear industry. For lithium, also a component in batteries and whose demand the IEA says could increase eightfold by 2040, Greenland's resources have been estimated at 235,000 tonnes, or 0.20 percent of the global figure. Greenland's copper resources meanwhile are insignificant on a global scale, but its uranium reserves, a coveted nuclear fuel, could be of greater strategic interest. However, its exploitation on the island has been banned since 2021. - One active mine, one restarting - There is only one operational mine in Greenland -- an anorthosite deposit on the west coast of the territory run by Lumina Sustainable Materials. Production there is very limited and activity intermittent, with its ownership having changed many times over the years. The Nalunaq gold mine on the south of the island, owned by the Canadian company Amaroq Minerals, is in a restarting phase. "Several other projects are under development and some of these have been advanced to a feasibility stage and have been granted exploitation licences," Jakob Klove Keiding, senior consultant at GEUS told AFP. But, he added, these "still need significant additional investments and the final approvals to go into production." The European Union, which identified 25 of the 34 minerals on its official list of critical raw materials in Greenland, signed a memorandum of understanding with Greenland's government in 2023 supporting the development of the island's mineral resources. This strategic partnership could offer new prospects in maritime transport and resource exploration, with the Arctic warming up four times faster than the rest of the world. - Hydrocarbons - The island could also hold hydrocarbons roughly equivalent to 28.43 billion barrels of oil, according to GEUS, Greenland's National Oil Company (Nunaoil), and Greenland's Mineral Resources Authority, based on industry data. Although seemingly abundant, this has to be put in context. No industrial drilling for oil or gas has ever been exploited in Greenland, although three oil exploration licenses are active in the east of the territory. The US, for example, consumed 7.39 billion barrels of petrol in 2023 alone, according to the US Energy Information Administration. lam-eab/fg
New York Times
03-03-2025
- Business
- New York Times
For Greenland's Minerals, the Harsh Reality Behind the Glittering Promise
More than a decade ago, Canadian miners prospecting for diamonds in western Greenland saw on the horizon a huge white hump. They called it White Mountain and soon discovered it was a deposit of anorthosite, a salt-and-pepper color mineral used in paints, glass fibers, flame retardants and other industries. The same mineral creates a ghostly glow on the moon's surface. The White Mountain deposit proved to be several miles long and several miles wide, and 'only God knows how deep it goes,' said Bent Olsvig Jensen, the managing director of Lumina Sustainable Materials, the company mining the area. Lumina is backed by European and Canadian investors, but Mr. Jensen said it wasn't easy to turn the deposit into a mountain of cash. 'You cannot do exploration all year round; you are in the Arctic,' he explained. He told of fierce winds grounding helicopters and knocking out communications, pack ice blocking ships and temperatures dropping to such a dreadful low — sometimes minus 40 degrees Fahrenheit — that the hydraulic fluid powering the company's digging machines 'becomes like butter.' Sitting in Lumina's humble offices in Nuuk, Greenland's capital, with wet snow flakes scissoring down outside the windows, Mr. Jensen brought a dose of sobriety to all the talk of Greenland as the land of incalculable mineral riches. He noted that though the island has dozens of exploratory projects, there are only two active mines: his and a small gold operation. Mining projects in Greenland Non-critical Deposits of critical raw materials Exploration licenses (Zinc, lead) CANADA (Titanium) GREENLAND (Iron) Ice cap (Copper, other) KoBold (Cobalt, nickel, copper, platinum group elements) (Zinc, lead) (Iron) Ilulissat (Platinum group elements, gold, titanium, vanadium) (Copper) (Graphite) Lumina (Rare earth) (Feldspar) (Graphite) ICELAND Nuuk (Chromium) Critical Metals (Feldspar) (Rare earth) (Silicon, fluorine) (Copper) (Graphite) 300 MILES (Titanium, vanadium) Amaroq (Gold) Kvanefjeld Rare earth mining project linked to China, shut down for environmental concerns Mining projects in Greenland Exploration licenses Deposits of critical raw materials Non-critical raw materials (Zinc, lead) CANADA Ice cap Qaanaaq (Titanium) (Iron) GREENLAND Baffin Bay (Copper, other) KoBold (Zinc, lead) (Cobalt, nickel, copper, platinum group elements) (Iron) Ilulissat (Copper) (Graphite) (Platinum group elements, gold, titanium, vanadium) Lumina (Rare earth) (Feldspar) (Graphite) ICELAND Tasiilaq Nuuk (Chromium) (Feldspar) Critical Metals (Rare earth) (Silicon, fluorine) 300 MILES (Copper) (Titanium, vanadium) (Graphite) Amaroq (Gold) Kvanefjeld Rare earth mining project linked to China, shut down for environmental concerns Source: GEUS Note: Critical raw materials are those that are important for industry, including many green technologies, and have a high risk of supply disruption. Some known deposits of minerals are historical assessments. By Samuel Granados Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
