Greenland’s minister for enterprise and mineral sources Naaja Nathanielsen speaks throughout an interview with AFP in her workplace in Nuuk, Greenland, on March 6, 2025.
Odd Andersen | Afp | Getty Photographs
Greenland has little curiosity in harnessing its large useful resource potential to develop into a high mining nation.
The world’s largest island has been thrust into the geopolitical highlight in current months, with U.S. President Donald Trump repeatedly saying that Washington ought to management the autonomous Danish territory — even refusing to rule out the usage of army or financial drive.
Trump’s pursuit of Greenland comes as mining executives describe the race for the Arctic island’s largely untapped extractable sources as an “monumental alternative.” Nonetheless, Greenland’s harsh local weather, distant panorama and lack of infrastructure have all been cited as boundaries to the island’s strategic potential.
Naaja Nathanielsen, Greenland’s minister for enterprise and mineral sources, informed CNBC that exploiting among the territory’s extremely prized minerals is “completely doable and viable,” noting that a number of mining initiatives are already underway.
“We do have initiatives underway that I feel are very promising: graphite, gold, copper, nickel, molybdenum and so forth. Uncommon earths as properly,” Nathanielsen informed CNBC’s “Squawk Field Europe” on Friday.
“However for Greenland, we’re not essentially fascinated about turning into a very nice mining nation. We simply actually need 5 or 10 lively mines at any given time,” Nathanielsen stated.
“We’re a really small inhabitants so, for us, we do not want the whole nation to be coated in mines. We’re pleased with managing a number of and I feel that’s possible,” she added.
Greenland, which at present has simply two lively mines on the island, has lengthy pitched itself as a Western different to China’s close to monopoly on uncommon earth components.
Certainly, a 2023 survey by the Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland (GEUS) discovered that 25 of the 34 minerals acknowledged as crucial uncooked supplies by the European Fee had been present in Greenland.
These minerals embody graphite, molybdenum and titanium, all of that are anticipated to play a key position within the pivot to extra sustainable power sources.
Mining operations
Earlier this week, mining growth agency Important Metals Company introduced it had obtained a letter of curiosity from the Export-Import Financial institution of the US for a mortgage price as much as $120 million to fund the agency’s Tanbreez uncommon earths mine in southern Greenland.
Notably, the funding package deal marked the Trump administration’s first abroad funding in a mining undertaking.
On this aerial view melting icebergs crowd the Ilulissat Icefjord on July 16, 2024 close to Ilulissat, Greenland.
Sean Gallup | Getty Photographs Information | Getty Photographs
Greenland authorities additionally just lately authorised a 30-year mining allow to a Danish-French mining group to take advantage of anorthosite, a rock wealthy in aluminum, at a web site in western Greenland.
Individually, Eldur Olafsson, CEO of Greenland-focused mining firm Amaroq, described Greenland as “a tremendous nation” to function in.
“The geology is such that Greenland has traveled world wide via a geological time and gone in all places — which signifies that it has an publicity to most mineral sources,” Olafsson informed CNBC’s “Europe Early Version” on Thursday.
“It has a unbelievable jurisdiction in relation to regulation. It’s based mostly on Nordic rules and legislation,” he added.
A common view of a residential space of Nuuk, Greenland, on March 10, 2025, on the eve of a parliamentary election in Greenland, the autonomous Danish territory. Two days of storm and delicate climate has ripped political posters of posts and melted snow in Greenland’s capital.
Odd Andersen | Afp | Getty Photographs
Requested how the prospect of the U.S. buying Greenland might impression the agency’s operations and outlook, Olafsson stated Greenland’s future is for Greenlanders to decide on.
“Ultimately, I feel Greenland will develop into most probably an impartial state, supported by the Nordic nations and supported by the U.S., identical to Iceland was,” Olafsson stated.
Studying from the previous
Greenland’s Nathanielsen stated the territory has “very excessive” environmental, social and governance (ESG) requirements, partially due to its earlier points with mining air pollution.
“I feel the individuals of Greenland actually help the mining trade, which is kind of sort of uncommon if you have a look at different jurisdictions. However they accomplish that as a result of they place confidence in us having a excessive environmental customary and taking good care of native communities,” Nathanielsen stated.
“And if we begin to fold on that, we will even lose the individuals’s help of this trade. For us it’s actually necessary. So, I feel we’ve got discovered from the previous,” she added.
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