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 Pictures
Greenland has little curiosity in harnessing its large useful resource potential to turn into a prime 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 navy 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 “huge alternative.” Nonetheless, Greenland’s harsh local weather, distant panorama and lack of infrastructure have all been cited as obstacles to the island’s strategic potential.
Naaja Nathanielsen, Greenland’s minister for enterprise and mineral sources, advised CNBC that exploiting a number of the territory’s extremely prized minerals is “completely potential 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 advised CNBC’s “Squawk Field Europe” on Friday.
“However for Greenland, we’re not essentially excited about changing into a very nice mining nation. We simply really need 5 or 10 energetic mines at any given time,” Nathanielsen stated.
“We’re a really small inhabitants so, for us, we do not want all the nation to be coated in mines. We’re pleased with managing just a few and I feel that’s possible,” she added.
Greenland, which at present has simply two energetic mines on the island, has lengthy pitched itself as a Western various 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 vital 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 function within the pivot to extra sustainable vitality 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 USA for a mortgage value as much as $120 million to fund the agency’s Tanbreez uncommon earths mine in southern Greenland.
Notably, the funding bundle 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 Pictures Information | Getty Pictures
Greenland authorities additionally just lately authorized 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 by way of a geological time and gone all over the place — which implies that it has an publicity to most mineral sources,” Olafsson advised CNBC’s “Europe Early Version” on Thursday.
“It has a improbable jurisdiction in relation to regulation. It’s primarily based on Nordic rules and regulation,” he added.
A normal 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 gentle climate has ripped political posters of posts and melted snow in Greenland’s capital.
Odd Andersen | Afp | Getty Pictures
Requested how the prospect of the U.S. buying Greenland might affect the agency’s operations and outlook, Olafsson stated Greenland’s future is for Greenlanders to decide on.
“Ultimately, I feel Greenland will turn into almost certainly an impartial state, supported by the Nordic nations and supported by the U.S., similar to Iceland was,” Olafsson stated.
Studying from the previous
Greenland’s Nathanielsen stated the territory has “very excessive” environmental, social and governance (ESG) requirements, partly due to its earlier points with mining air pollution.
“I feel the individuals of Greenland actually help the mining business, which is sort of form of uncommon while you have a look at different jurisdictions. However they accomplish that as a result of they think about us having a excessive environmental commonplace and caring for native communities,” Nathanielsen stated.
“And if we begin to fold on that, we may also lose the individuals’s help of this business. For us it’s actually necessary. So, I feel we’ve got discovered from the previous,” she added.
