Will Trump spark a mineral 'gold rush' in Greenland?

NUUK, GREENLAND — 

The mineral wealthiness connected the Arctic land of Greenland is successful the planetary spotlight aft U.S. President Donald Trump said helium wants to instrumentality power of the territory from Denmark, prompting alarm from European allies.

Trump's words were echoed successful a January 12 interrogation connected "Fox News Sunday" by Vice President JD Vance, who said, "There is simply a woody to beryllium made successful Greenland," and that the land has "a batch of large earthy resources."

Until now, Greenland's mining manufacture has struggled to crook a profit, but could that beryllium astir to change?

'Full of minerals'

Greenland presently has lone 1 progressive commercialized excavation — White Mountain —located northbound of the capital, Nuuk, and gets its stark, monochrome colour from anorthosite rock, which is affluent successful calcium deposits and different minerals.

The mine's operator, Lumina Sustainable Materials, ships the stone from Greenland's occidental coastline to Asia, Europe and North America, wherever it is utilized to marque a assortment of products specified arsenic fiberglass, paint, fillers, cement and polymers. Efforts are nether mode to exploit aluminum deposits wrong the anorthosite.

"Greenland is simply a state afloat of minerals. We have, literally, minerals disposable each implicit the place," Bent Olsvig Jensen, Lumina's managing manager successful Greenland, told VOA successful an interview.

Dozens of different mining companies from astir the satellite are conducting exploration and feasibility studies crossed Greenland, though White Mountain remains the lone commercialized cognition presently trading.

China contention

The minerals see plentiful uncommon world elements specified arsenic lithium and scandium, which are captious for devices specified arsenic batteries. Global proviso chains for those elements are presently dominated by China.

Trump has repeatedly said that U.S. power of Greenland is indispensable for "international security." His comments caused a governmental tempest successful Greenland and Denmark, but mining companies spot an opportunity.

"His involvement successful Greenland tin really assistance the manufacture get entree to further investment, which is needed for the manufacture to make successful Greenland," Jensen said. "So, yes, I decidedly invited it. And I deliberation it's important that some from the manufacture broadside but besides from the governmental broadside successful Greenland that we presumption ourselves towards Trump and the U.S."

'Not for sale'

Greenland's authorities is mostly autonomous, though Denmark is liable for the island's security.

Naaja Nathanielsen, Greenland's curate for resources, emphasized the government's long-held effect to Trump's interest: Open for business, but not for sale.

"We bash privation American investments. We bash privation collaboration with the U.S. State Department, and we've been trying to advocator for that for immoderate time," she told VOA.

Greenland signed a woody with Trump during his archetypal medication successful 2019 to boost the mining industry.

"The U.S. funded our nonstop selling towards investors each implicit the world, and this statement has conscionable travel to its end. So we've been trying to … get engagement from the U.S. for immoderate clip present successful bid to renew this deal," Nathanielsen said.

Challenges

Despite wide designation of Greenland's mineral wealth, attracting concern successful mining has been a semipermanent problem.

"For galore years now, we person seen that determination has been immoderate hesitance successful the capitalist situation to prosecute successful high-risk, semipermanent projects. We lone person 1 American-owned licence astatine the moment. In comparison, we person 23 from Canada, 23 from the U.K. and astir 10 from Denmark. So, it's not an country wherever you spot a batch of U.S. engagement arsenic of now. Of people we invited it, and there's plentifulness of opportunity," Nathanielsen said.

Greenland's authorities is pushing for afloat independency from Denmark. Supporters anticipation the island's mineral wealthiness could 1 time supply the economical instauration for afloat statehood. But there's a agelong mode to go, said Ulrik Pram Gad, an expert astatine the Danish Institute for International Studies successful Copenhagen.

"If you privation minerals retired of the crushed and financing Greenlandic self-sufficiency economically, past you volition request to person the uptake successful the planetary processing going," Gad told VOA.

"And then, astir apt you'll person to deliberation precise intimately astir however to marque definite that these mining projects payment radical who unrecorded adjacent to them, alternatively than being a caller mentation of imperialist extraction. Because then, the Greenlanders mightiness not privation it successful the end," helium explained.

The hazard doesn't ever extremity successful reward. Rubies and pinkish sapphires were extracted astatine the Aappaluttoq excavation until 2023, erstwhile its operator, Greenland Ruby, went bankrupt, $71 cardinal successful debt. The institution is restructuring and seeking caller investors, with a extremity of restarting operations.

Greenland's 2.1 cardinal quadrate kilometers of onshore is icebound for overmuch of the year.

"Obviously, we are successful the mediate of the Arctic, truthful determination are immoderate logistical challenges," Jensen of Lumina said. "Not each of Greenland is unfastened each twelvemonth round. However, that is thing that we tin program our mode retired of."

Jensen added that investors indispensable person patience to marque a profit.

"It takes clip to make a task from the early-stage exploration until you really person a excavation wherever you tin extract and commencement selling. And arsenic we each accidental successful mining, 'Time is money.'"