Greenland's Minister of Mines: If the US and EU are Unwilling to Invest, We Will Have to Find Other Partners

Officials from the Greenland Self-Government in Denmark have stated that if US and European mining companies are unwilling to accelerate their investments in this Arctic island, they will have to seek other partners to develop mineral resources.

As background, Naaja Nathanielsen, Greenland's Minister for Business and Mineral Resources, told the media that the memorandum of understanding (MOU) on mineral development currently signed between the Self-Government and the US (signed during Trump's first term) is about to expire . Greenland had attempted to push for its renewal during the Biden administration but was unsuccessful.

After the start of Trump's second term, his demands for Greenland have gone far beyond mineral cooperation. He has repeatedly insisted that "the US will take over Greenland" and even adopted a stance of "not ruling out the use of force." Against this backdrop, bilateral mining negotiations are clearly difficult to advance.

Nathanielsen said, "We had originally hoped that the Trump administration would be more willing to engage in dialogue with Greenland on mineral development, but what we got was 'far beyond our expectations,' as we do not want to become part of the US."

She also emphasized that Trump's threat to control Greenland was "both impolite and repulsive."

Seeking Development Under a New Order

After the elections earlier this year, Greenland's new four-party coalition government, following a change in administration, emphasized its "commitment to creating development opportunities for Greenland and its people" and its preference for cooperation with "allies and like-minded partners."

Nathanielsen bluntly stated that in the face of the evolving state of traditional Western alliances, Greenland is "struggling to find its footing".

She said that Greenland is now trying to figure out what the new world order looks like . Therefore, from this perspective, US investments "may also be problematic" because it is unclear what the purpose of American investments is . In comparison, the EU would be a more ideal choice for cooperation.

Greenland has abundant mineral resources, including gold, copper, as well as oil and natural gas, but their extraction is challenging due to geographical constraints.Currently, Greenland only has two operational mines , producing gold and anorthosite, respectively, and there are two additional mines with mining licenses that have not yet commenced production.

Just last week, the Greenland government issued a license to a Danish-French joint venture to mine anorthosite in accordance with the new mining law. The company, named "Greenland Anorthosite," has investors including the Greenland National Pension Fund, local Danish banks, and the French Jean Boulle Mining Group.

Anorthosite is a white rock primarily composed of aluminum, trace amounts of silicon, and calcium, with a composition similar to that of rocks on the lunar surface. The initial development plan is to crush the anorthosite and supply it to the fiberglass industry as a sustainable substitute raw material for kaolinite. The future vision includes using it as an environmentally friendly substitute for bauxite in the production of aluminum semis for aircraft, automobiles, and other applications.

Interestingly, despite being well aware of Greenland's geopolitically sensitive location, Minister Natanaelson emphasized that if European and American companies are absent from local mining development, they will need to explore other avenues—not excluding cooperation with Chinese (companies) or other partners.

However, she also revealed that Chinese companies are expected to have relatively small interest in mining transactions in Greenland. Currently, there are only two Chinese mining companies on the island, and both are minority shareholders in stalled projects.