U.S. President Trump’s musings about an American takeover of Greenland have put a new focus on the arctic territory’s mineral deposits, as well as its potential as a shipping hub.
Trump has set off alarm bells and a flurry of European diplomacy with his continued comments about taking over Greenland, a self-governing country under the international protection of the Kingdom of Denmark.
He has spoken of the strategic importance of the world’s largest island as a warming climate enables military ships to travel the Arctic, but Trump and others have also noted Greenland’s vast supply of critical minerals. In addition, Greenland has a potential future role in commercial shipping.
Wealth of rare earth elements
With its vast deposits of rare earth elements (REEs) and uranium, Greenland has long been viewed as a sleeping giant in the critical minerals market. Its Kvanefjeld deposit, one of the richest known REE reserves in the world, has the potential to transform the global supply chain, according to Jakob Kløve Keiding, senior consultant at the Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland, cited by CNBC.
Rare earth elements are essential for advanced weaponry, renewable energy technologies, and electronics—making them a key resource for national security and economic development. Currently, China controls the majority of the world’s REEs, but Greenland has the potential to alter China’s dominance of REE supply.
Danish and U.S. officials have actively discouraged Greenland from engaging with Chinese firms, particularly regarding its Tanbreez deposit, which is rich in the rare earth mineral eudialyte.
Interest in the mineral deposits have driven Trump’s fascination with Greenland for years, and he first proposed to purchase the territory from Denmark in 2019. Yet Greenland’s Prime Minister Mute Egede and politicians in Denmark have repeatedly said the island is “not for sale.”
In reality, developing Greenland’s potential for mining is fraught with challenges. Despite its mineral wealth, the Arctic island has only two active mines, and neither has critical minerals, according to reports. The high costs of exploration, political concerns, limited infrastructure, and difficulty of access have hampered further mining, BBC reports.
Nonetheless, Trump’s presidency is expected to accelerate efforts to unlock Greenland’s resource potential and secure its role as a politically stable alternative to Chinese-controlled supply chains.
Potential importance for shipping
While commercial shipping in and around Greenland has been limited in the past, the opening of Arctic seaways may change that.
“Greenland occupies a key position along two potential shipping routes through the Arctic: the Northwest Passage, along the northern coastline of North America, and the Transpolar Sea Route, through the center of the Arctic Ocean,” according to researchers from Harvard’s Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs.
Currently, rough weather and floating ice make these routes commercially unviable, but in the coming years, traffic in the Arctic Ocean is expected to increase, the researchers say. As ice in the region melts, these northern routes offer the potential to reduce shipping times and to allow passage that avoids “traditional chokepoints like the Suez and Panama Canals,” they say.
Such a change could position Greenland as a recipient of major developments in marine infrastructure and a beneficiary of the investment in that infrastructure.
This story was written by Viktoriya Zakrevskaya.
