26/01/16
Greenland’s resources face extraction hurdles
Houston, 16 January (Argus) — 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. By Reagan Patrowicz 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) Send comments and request more
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