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The plane allegedly carrying American businessman Donald Trump Jr. arrived in Nuuk, Greenland on January 7, 2025.
Emil Stach | Afp | Getty Images
President-elect of the United States Donald Trump‘s persecution The acquisition of Greenland could be motivated by important minerals, with mining executives and explorers describing the island’s vast resource potential as a “tremendous opportunity”.
Trump multi-year rate take control of the largest island in the world in recent weeks has exceeded speed.
Ahead of his inauguration on January 20, Trump said that US ownership of the autonomous Danish territory is “an absolute necessity” for purposes related to “national security and freedom throughout the world.”
Trump has since doubled down on those comments, refusing to rule out using military or economic force to make Greenland part of the United States
Greenland Prime Minister Mute Egede told Trump that the Arctic island “not for sale” and called on the international community to respect the territory’s desire for independence. Together with the Prime Minister of Denmark Mette FrederiksenEgede also recently is called for talks with Trump to resolve the situation.
When asked about Trump’s fixation on making Greenland part of the United States, the president-elect’s incoming national security adviser, Rep. Michael Waltz, R-Fla., gave an unequivocal answer.
“We are talking about important minerals. We are talking about natural resources,” Waltz said Fox News in an interview on January 9.
“This is about rebuilding America in the Western Hemisphere,” Waltz said. “You can call it the Monroe Doctrine 2.0, but it’s all part of it”America first“the order of the day”.
Greenland will become increasingly relevant; it will become more and more important due to the climate change debate, critical metals and geopolitical debate.
Roderick McIlry
CEO of 80 Mile
Essential minerals refer to a subset of materials that are considered important for energy transition. These minerals, which tend to have a high risk of supply chain disruption, include metals such as copper, lithium, nickel, cobalt and rare earth elements.
Important minerals and rare earth elements are vital components in new green technologies such as wind turbines electric carsenergy storage technologies and national security programs.
China is it the undisputed leader supply chain of essential minerals, accounting approximately 60% of world production of rare earth minerals and materials. US officials earlier warned that this creates a strategic challenge amid the transition to low-carbon energy sources.
In this photo taken from the height of melting icebergs, Ilulissat ice fjord crowds on July 16, 2024. near Ilulissat, Greenland.
Sean Gallup | Getty Images News | Getty Images
Jakob Kløve Keiding, senior consultant at the Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland (GEUS), said that in 2023 survey of Greenland’s resource potential assessed a total of 38 types of raw materials on the island, the vast majority of which have relatively high or moderate potential.
These materials include the rare earth metals graphite, niobium, platinum group metals, molybdenum, tantalum and titanium.
“Overall, we can say that there is huge potential for important raw materials (in Greenland),” Kaeding told CNBC by phone.
“Many of these are of great importance to the EU economy, and of course it is not limited to Europe. Many of them are also on the list of American (critical raw materials),” he added.
“Greenland is not for sale”
Aaya Chemnitz, the Danish member of parliament for Greenland from the Ataqatigiit Inuit party, called Trump’s comments about Greenland “disrespectful” and confirmed the prime minister’s message, saying the territory is not for sale.
“It doesn’t bother me. I think some people in Greenland are very concerned, but I think it’s important for us to say that Greenland is not for sale, never has been (and) never will be sold,” Chemnitz told CNBC’s Silvia Amaro on Monday.
Chemnitz said Greenlandic lawmakers should have “clear and very specific goals about how to cooperate with the US.”
Closer ties between Greenland and the US, for example, could boost investment in the island’s mining industry, she added.
“If we look at mining, for example, of rare earth elements. This is something we have been ready to do for a very long time. We’ve been looking for American investors, (but) we haven’t found them, so they’re very welcome,” Chemnitz said.
The U.S. military maintains a permanent presence in northwest Greenland at Pitufik Space Base, formerly known as Thule Air Base.
“Race for what’s left”
Roderick McIlry, chief executive of British mining company 80 Mile, said he has been working in Greenland for just over 20 years on projects ranging from resource discovery to feasibility studies.
“I think what we’re seeing in Greenland is really a race for what’s left,” McIlree told CNBC via video call.
“Many independent government studies show that Greenland and its natural shelf boundaries potentially hold 20% to 25% of the last recoverable resources on the planet. Now that it is, it’s a huge opportunity for Greenland.”
The old colonial harbor of Nuuk, Greenland, taken on August 30, 2024. Greenland, an icy land whose harsh landscapes are mesmerizing, wants to attract more tourists, a paradox for a territory that is particularly vulnerable to global warming and whose geographic isolation means many people have to board planes to get there.
James Brooks | Afp | Getty Images
80 Mile currently has three projects it is actively developing in Greenland, including a major oil concession on the island’s east coast, a titanium project near Pitufik in the northwest and the Disko-Nuussuaq project in the southwest.
Highlighting the resource potential in the area, McIlree said the firm’s Disko project could become one of the largest nickel and copper mining sites on the planet.
“Greenland will become more and more relevant; it will become more and more foreground because of climate change discussion, critical metals discussion and geopolitical discussion. And its proximity to the U.S. really makes it a natural jurisdiction for significant U.S. investment,” McIlry said.
“If Greenland plays its cards right, it will lead to their independence,” he added.
“Significant strategic interest”
Last March, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen visited Nuuk, Greenland to open an EU office in the capital of the island.
The move, which comes months before Donald Trump Jr.’s recent trip to the same city, was designed to strengthen Europe’s presence in the area, as well as the wider arctic region.
Von der Leyen announced two cooperation agreements totaling nearly 94 million euros ($95.9 million), which she said would be used to invest in clean energy, critical raw materials and skills in Greenland.
(LR) President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen, Prime Minister of Greenland Mute B. Egede and Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen signed an agreement on March 15 to open a new European Commission office in Nuuk, Greenland.
Leif Josephsen | Afp | Getty Images
“I’m a geologist by training and I know that Greenland is rich in natural resources,” Paul Lasti, head of battery raw materials research at Fastmarkets, told CNBC via video call.
“There’s been a lot of interest in rare earth elements in Greenland, for example, and it’s clear that they could be of significant strategic interest to the United States,” Lasti said.
