A plane carrying American businessman Donald Trump Jr. arrived in Nuuk, Greenland on January 7, 2025.
Emil Stach | AFP | Getty Images
US President-elect Donald Trump’s pursuit of Greenland is likely motivated by its critical minerals, with mine operators and researchers calling Greenland’s vast resource potential a “giant” “opportunity”.
President Trump’s long-standing effort to take control of the world’s largest island has gained momentum in recent weeks.
Ahead of his inauguration on Jan. 20, President Trump said that U.S. ownership of the autonomous Danish territory “is a right.”absolute necessityFor purposes related to “national security and freedom around the world.”
President Trump subsequently doubled down on these comments, refuse to exclude Use of military or economic power to make Greenland part of the United States
Greenland’s Prime Minister Mute Egede told President Trump that the Arctic islandNot for sale”, he appealed to the international community to respect the region’s aspirations for independence. Mette FrederiksenEgede has also recently called The purpose is to meet with President Trump to resolve the situation.
Asked about President Trump’s insistence on making Greenland part of the United States, the president’s incoming national security adviser, Rep. Michael Walz (R-Florida), gave a clear answer. did.
“This is about critical minerals. This is about natural resources,” Walz said. fox news He said this in an interview on January 9th.
“This reintroduces America to the Western Hemisphere,” Walz said. “You could call this Monroe Doctrine 2.0, but it’s all part of the ‘America First’ agenda.”
Greenland will become more and more popular. It will become more and more central because of the climate change debate, the critical metals debate, and the geopolitical debate.
Roderick McKillie
80mile Executive Director
Critical minerals refer to a subset of materials that are considered essential for energy transitions. These minerals contain metals such as copper, lithium, nickel, cobalt and rare earth elements and tend to be at high risk of supply chain disruption.
Critical minerals and rare earth elements are essential elements in emerging green technologies such as wind turbines, electric vehicles, energy storage technologies, and national security applications.
China is the undisputed leader in critical mineral supply chains; accounting It accounts for approximately 60% of the world’s production of rare earth minerals and materials. US officials have previously warned that this poses a strategic challenge in the transition to low-carbon energy sources.
In this aerial photo, melting icebergs crowd the Ilulissat Icefjord on July 16, 2024, near Ilulissat, Greenland.
Sean Gallup Getty Images News | Getty Images
Jakob Klov Kading, senior consultant at the Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland (GEUS), said that by 2023, investigation The Greenland Resource Potential Study Team assessed a total of 38 raw materials on the island, the majority of which have relatively high or medium potential.
These materials include the rare earth metals graphite, niobium, platinum group metals, molybdenum, tantalum, and titanium.
“Overall, we can say that there is great potential for key raw materials. [in Greenland]”Kading told CNBC by phone.
“Many of these are very important for the EU economy, and of course it’s not just limited to Europe. Many of these are also on the American list.” [critical raw materials]” he added.
“Greenland is not for sale”
Arja Chemnitz, a Greenlandic member of the Danish parliament from the Inuit Attakatigigit party, called President Trump’s comments on Greenland “disrespectful” and reaffirmed the prime minister’s message that the territory is not for sale.
“I’m not worried. I think some people in Greenland are quite worried, but it’s important for us to say that Greenland is not for sale and has never been for sale. I think so.” [and] It’s never for sale,” Chemnitz told CNBC’s Sylvia Amaro on Monday.
Chemnitz said Greenland’s lawmakers need to have “clear and very specific goals on how to work with the United States.”
For example, he added, future closer ties between Greenland and the United States could encourage investment in the island’s mining industry.
“If you look at rare earth extraction, for example, this is something we have wanted to do for a long time. We were looking for American investors. [but] It has not been found yet, so we welcome it,” Chemnitz said.
The U.S. military maintains a permanent presence at Pitufik Space Base (formerly known as Thule Air Base) in northwestern Greenland.
“Competition for what’s left”
Roderick McKillie, executive director of UK-based mining company 80 Mile, said he has been working on projects in Greenland from resource discovery to feasibility for more than 20 years.
“I think what we’re seeing in Greenland is really a competition for what’s left,” McKillie told CNBC in a video call.
“Numerous independent state studies indicate that Greenland and its natural shelf boundaries may hold 20% to 25% of the planet’s last remaining extractable resources. If we get it right, that’s a huge opportunity for Greenland.”
Former colonial port of Nuuk, Greenland. Photographed on August 30, 2024. Greenland, an icy land with a captivating rugged landscape, wants to attract more tourists, but this is a paradox for a geographically isolated region that is especially vulnerable to global warming. There is. That a lot of people have to get on a plane to get there.
James Brooks AFP | Getty Images
80 Mile is currently actively developing three projects in Greenland, including a large oil concession on the island’s east coast, a titanium project near Pitufik in the northwest, and a disco project in the southwest.・Includes Nussuaku project.
McIlree highlighted the region’s resource potential, saying his company’s Disco project could become one of the largest producers of nickel and copper on the planet.
“Greenland will become more and more talked about, and Greenland will become more and more front and center. The climate change debate, the critical metal debate, the geopolitical debate. And its proximity to the U.S. makes it a natural jurisdiction for significant U.S. investment,” McKillie said.
“If Greenland plays its cards right, it will lead to independence,” he added.
“Significant strategic interests”
Last March, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen visited Nuuk, Greenland. Open an EU office Located in the island’s capital.
The move comes months before Donald Trump Jr.’s recent visit to the city and was aimed at strengthening Europe’s presence in the region and the wider Arctic.
Von der Leyen announced at the time two cooperation agreements totaling about 94 million euros ($95.9 million), which she said would be used to invest in clean energy, critical raw materials and technology in Greenland.
(LR) European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, Prime Minister of Greenland Mute B. Egede and Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen of Denmark meet the European Commission in Nuuk, Greenland on 15 March 2024. An agreement was signed to open a new office for the association.
Leif Josefsen | AFP | Getty Images
“I’m a geologist and I know Greenland is very rich in natural resources,” Paul Rusty, Fastmarket’s head of battery materials research, told CNBC in a video call.
“There’s a lot of interest in rare earths in Greenland, for example, and it’s clear that rare earths could be of important strategic interest to the United States,” Rusty said.