Greenland's natural resources have returned to the fore since US president Donald Trump renewed his interest in acquiring the Danish autonomous territory, but the island's rare earths (REEs) and "critical minerals" will likely remain mostly commercially untapped amid extraction challenges and a lack of commercial viability without significant government financing.
Trump recently denied that rare earths and "critical minerals" are a major motive in the push to acquire the territory, stating, "we need Greenland for national security, not minerals".
Still, members of his administration have previously noted some interest in its resources, including US ambassador to the United Nations and former national security advisor Mike Waltz, who told Fox News in a January 2025 interview that "this is about critical minerals" in addition to national security when asked about US interest in Greenland.
Geopolitical tensions grow
Trump's chief policy advisor, Stephen Miller, last week told CNN that the "formal position" of the US government is that it should control Greenland "to protect and defend Nato and Nato interests".
The notion was opposed by Europe, causing leaders of six European nations to put their names to a 6 January statement, with Denmark defending the sovereignty of Greenland in the face of US threats.
In the following days, Trump said the US aims to acquire Greenland "whether they like it or not", claiming that if the US does not acquire the territory "Russia or China will take over Greenland".
US, Danish and Greenlandic officials met in Washington on 14 January, but talks ultimately ended without agreement. "It's clear that the [US] president has this wish of conquering Greenland," Danish foreign minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen told reporters after the meeting. The meeting left both sides "with a fundamental disagreement" about Greenland's future, and "we didn't manage to change the American position", Rasmussen said.
Trump's push for the US' acquisition of Greenland now involves tariff threats against countries opposing the move, saying, "I may put a tariff on countries if they don't go along with Greenland, because we need Greenland for national security", during remarks on Friday at an event dedicated to improving healthcare in US rural areas.
Known resources and extraction challenges
Greenland holds significant reserves of REEs and other "critical minerals", many of which serve essential — and sometimes non-substitutable — roles in various applications across many sectors, including defense, energy and automotive, among many others.
The territory holds an estimated 36.1mn metric tonnes (t) of light and heavy rare earths, though only 1.5mn t of resources are proven, according to the Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland (GEUS) and the US Geological Survey (USGS), respectively.
Greenland holds the eighth-largest proven REE resources in the world, according to the USGS.
However, Greenland does not actively produce any rare earths.
In addition to rare earths, Greenland is also home to a "high" resource potential of molybdenum, graphite, hafnium, niobium, platinum group metals, tantalum and titanium, among others, according to estimates from GEUS. The island holds significant reserves of uranium, though its government banned mining of that element in 2021.
Despite the resource quantities, few companies participate in Greenland's mining industry as difficult geological and geographical factors, harsh weather and limited existing infrastructure imply high operational costs, according to GEUS. A few rare earths and "critical minerals" projects are in exploratory phases however, and have received significant interest in government funding to propel production.
Current projects
US-based Critical Metals owns the Tanbreez project in southern Greenland, which holds an estimated 27pc of global heavy rare earths, according to the company, but the project has yet to achieve commercial production.
The company has signed several offtake agreements within the last year, including with REalloys, Ucore Rare Metals and Saudi firm Tariq Abdel Hadi Abdullah Al-Qahtani & Brothers Company. As of Thursday, all of the project's rare earths concentrate production is now slated for offtake under long-term contract agreements, according to Critical Metals.
Critical Metals received a letter of interest for $120mn from the US Export-Import Bank for its Tanbreez rare earths project in June, covering studies, pre-production and initial mining.
Canadian firm Greenland Resources' was granted a 30-year exploitation permit for molybdenum and magnesium for its Malmberg project in east Greenland in June, but has yet to start commercial production. The company has signed long-term supply agreements from the project with Finland-based stainless steel producer Outokumpu, German metal supplier Hempel Metallurgical and Italian specialty steel manufacturer Cogne Acciai Speciali within the last year.
Greenland Resources also has significant funding interest from European government agencies.
The European Union said in December it will help fund the molybdenum project, noting the project could quickly deliver on the EU's needs for molybdenum for the defense sector. The project also received support from the European Raw Materials Association in 2022.
| Estimated Contained Resources in Greenland | metric tonnes (t) |
| Element | Resource Estimates (2023) |
| Antimony | 3,780 |
| Chromium | 560,000 |
| Copper | 108,000 |
| Gallium | 152,000 |
| Graphite | 6,000,000 |
| Hafnium | 108,000 |
| Lithium | 235,000 |
| Molybdenum | 324,000 |
| Niobium | 5,900,000 |
| Platinum Group Metals | 576 |
| Rare Earth Elements | 36,100,000 |
| Silicon | 2,800,000 |
| Tantalum | 916,000 |
| Titanium | 12,100,000 |
| Tungsten | 26,200 |
| Vanadium | 179,000 |
| Zirconium | 57,100,000 |
| List not indicative of all resources. Totals summed by GEUS from resource estimations of known individual deposits in Greenland. | |
| Source: Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland (GEUS) | |
