Paris (AFP) – The vast autonomous Danish territory of Greenland, coveted by US President Donald Trump, is believed to hold untapped mineral and oil reserves. However, on a global scale, these amounts are modest and offer only minor potential for exploitation.
**Rare Earths**
Greenland’s rare earths are estimated at 36.1 billion tonnes by the Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland (GEUS). Demand for these 17 metals, vital for the tech industry, is expected to surge in the future, as they are also needed for drones, wind turbines, hard drives, electric cars, telescope lenses, and fighter jets. However, the territory’s economically and technically recoverable rare earth reserves amount to about 1.5 million tonnes, according to the latest report from the US Geological Survey (USGS). This is modest compared to the reserves held by China (44 million tonnes) or Brazil (21 million tonnes), but it is sufficient enough to attract manufacturers looking to diversify from China’s dominance over supply.
**Lithium, Graphite, Uranium**
According to GEUS, Greenland’s soils also contain graphite, lithium, and copper, three minerals defined by the International Energy Agency (IEA) as critical for the energy transition. The National Geological Survey has estimated graphite resources in Greenland at six million tons, or 0.75 percent of the global total calculated by USGS. A May 2024 IEA report stated that China “dominates the entire production chain” of graphite, which is used in both batteries and the nuclear industry.
For lithium, another crucial component in batteries, demand is expected to increase eightfold by 2040, with Greenland’s resources estimated at 235,000 tonnes, or 0.20 percent of the global figure. While Greenland’s copper resources are insignificant on a global scale, its uranium reserves, a coveted nuclear fuel, could be of greater strategic interest. However, its exploitation on the island has been banned since 2021.
**Two Mines**
An anorthosite mine on the west coast of the territory, run by Lumina Sustainable Materials, has been operational since 2019. Production there has been very limited and activity intermittent, with ownership having changed many times over the years. The Nalunaq gold mine in the south of the island, owned by Canadian company Amaroq Minerals, is in a restarting phase. The company announced the first gold extraction at the end of November and expects a ramp-up of capacity until the end of 2025.
“Several other projects are under development, and some of these have been advanced to a feasibility stage and have been granted exploitation licenses,” Jakob Klove Keiding, senior consultant at GEUS, told AFP. However, he added that these “still need significant additional investments and the final approvals to go into production.”
The European Union, which identified 25 of the 34 minerals on its official list of critical raw materials in Greenland, signed a memorandum of understanding with Greenland’s government in 2023 to support the development of the island’s mineral resources. This strategic partnership could offer new prospects in maritime transport and resource exploration, especially as the Arctic is warming up four times faster than the rest of the world.
**Hydrocarbons**
The island could also hold hydrocarbons roughly equivalent to 28.43 billion barrels of oil, according to GEUS, Greenland’s National Oil Company (Nunaoil), and Greenland’s Mineral Resources Authority, based on industry data. Although these resources seem abundant, there has been no industrial drilling for oil or gas in Greenland, although three oil exploration licenses are active in the east of the territory. For comparison, the US consumed 7.39 billion barrels of petrol in 2023 alone, according to the US Energy Information Administration.
© 2024 AFP
