Minerals, mines, and hydrocarbons: Greenland's main, but limited, resources March 5, 2025
- Ana Cunha-Busch
- Mar 4, 2025
- 3 min read
By AFP - Agence France Presse
Minerals, mines, and hydrocarbons: Greenland's main, but limited, resources
By Luca MATTEUCCI
The vast Danish autonomous territory of Greenland, coveted by US President Donald Trump, is believed to contain untapped reserves of minerals and oil, but on a global scale, these quantities are modest and offer only a small potential for exploitation.
- Rare earths
Greenland's rare earths are estimated at 36.1 billion tons by the Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland (GEUS).
Demand for these 17 metals vital to the technology sector is expected to increase in the future, and they are also needed for drones, wind turbines, hard disks, electric cars, telescope lenses and fighter jets.
But the territory's reserves of rare earths - that is, those that are economically and technically recoverable - amount to around 1.5 million tons, according to the latest report from the US Geological Survey (USGS).
This figure is modest compared to the reserves held by China (44 million tons) or Brazil (21 million tons), but it is enough to attract manufacturers looking to diversify China's supply.
- Lithium, graphite and uranium
According to GEUS, Greenland's soils also contain graphite, lithium, and copper, three minerals defined by the International Energy Agency (IEA) as essential for the energy transition.
The National Geological Survey estimated Greenland's graphite resources at six million tons or 0.75% of the global total calculated by the USGS.
According to an IEA report from May 2024, China “dominates the entire production chain” of this mineral, which is used both in batteries and in the nuclear industry.
For lithium, which is also a component of batteries and whose demand, according to the IEA, could increase eightfold by 2040, Greenland's resources were estimated at 235,000 tons or 0.20% of the global figure.
Meanwhile, Greenland's copper resources are insignificant on a global scale, but its reserves of uranium, a coveted nuclear fuel, may 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 in operation 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 the process of restarting. The company announced the first gold extraction at the end of November and expects an increase in capacity by the end of 2025.
“Several other projects are under development and some of them have advanced to the feasibility stage and received exploration licenses,” Jakob Klove Keiding, a senior consultant at GEUS, told AFP.
But, he added, these projects “still need significant additional investment and final approvals to go into production”.
The European Union, which has identified 25 of the 34 minerals on its official list of critical raw materials in Greenland, signed a memorandum of understanding with the Greenlandic government in 2023, supporting the development of the island's mineral resources.
This strategic partnership could offer new perspectives in maritime transportation and resource exploitation, as the Arctic is warming four times faster than the rest of the world.
- Hydrocarbons
The island may also contain hydrocarbons equivalent to approximately 28.43 billion barrels of oil, according to GEUS, the National Oil Company of Greenland (Nunaoil), and the Greenland Mineral Resources Authority, based on industry data.
Although 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 oil in 2023 alone, according to the US Energy Information Administration.
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