Greenland’s mining minister has warned Donald Trump’s proposal to purchase the Arctic territory might be “devastating” for its minerals pitch to worldwide traders.
Naaja Nathanielsen informed the Monetary Instances the US president-elect’s rhetoric, and particularly his refusal to rule out utilizing power to take over the island, risked damaging its picture as a secure, resource-rich democracy.
“When he talked about not excluding army use in Greenland I used to be fairly frightened about how traders would understand Greenland, possibly as a democracy about to be unstable or overrun,” Nathanielsen mentioned. “That might be devastating for our mineral sector as a result of traders don’t like instability.”
Some mining corporations have requested the island’s authorities for a assure that their licences would stay legitimate “if Greenland is occupied by the US”, mentioned an individual aware of the matter.
“Corporations are searching for a purpose to not do an funding. This may be within the class of political instability.”
Nevertheless, Nathanielsen mentioned she believed that was not the proper solution to interpret the incoming US president’s phrases.
“For those who reduce by way of the rhetoric, what I hear Trump saying is he thinks the pure sources in Greenland must be put to make use of. And we completely agree with him on this,” she mentioned.
Nathanielsen, whose ministerial portfolio consists of enterprise, commerce, justice and gender equality, mentioned mining corporations working in Greenland had the same view, and had been extra confused than really involved.
“All people’s been ready with bated breath to see: what’s the precise message in there? . . . The place does all the things land?” Nathanielsen mentioned.
Greenland has pitched itself as a western mining different for a lot of rare earths and minerals — a sector that China dominates — drawing the eye of US officers eager to maintain out Beijing and Moscow.
Nathanielsen mentioned western capitals more and more recognise the necessity to diversify their provide chains and guarantee they don’t seem to be depending on China or Russia for the minerals utilized in defence manufacturing.
However this has not translated into the kind of funding and funding mining corporations must get initiatives off the bottom in a location as difficult as Greenland, Nathanielsen mentioned, describing it as a geopolitical mistake.
“I feel everyone’s been sleeping. And must get up,” she mentioned.
The mining business can also be central to Greenland’s rising demand for independence. Together with tourism, the sector is seen as one of the best ways of boosting the island’s financial system permitting it to not want the DKr4bn ($550mn) annual grant from Denmark, which controls the territory.
Although bristling at Trump’s tone, many Greenlanders have seen an upside to the incoming president’s curiosity of their homeland, as a result of it has raised the difficulty of the territory’s independence from Denmark to the fore. However Greenland nonetheless has a number of work to do on its financial system, Nathanielsen mentioned.
Although many corporations maintain licences to mine an unlimited array of sources on the Arctic territory, no large-scale mine is in operation, and Greenlandic officers and mining bosses acknowledge the dearth of progress as disappointing.
Greenland’s remoteness, its lack of infrastructure and brief season for mining have stopped many initiatives from coming to fruition.
Nathanielsen mentioned Trump’s preliminary curiosity in Greenland in 2019 sparked a flurry of co-operation between the Arctic territory and the US state division within the mining sector, and she or he hoped his newest feedback had been a sign this work would develop.
“To get these minerals from Greenland, it’s not sufficient simply to say: ‘we wish this’. You additionally want to assist corporations in these early levels the place it’s very, very very important they get a number of funding,” she mentioned.
Anglo American, the London-listed mining firm, is the largest firm in Greenland with very early-stage exploration licences, that are as a consequence of run out this yr however are renewable.
Different corporations have discovered promising provides of copper, oil, and minerals corresponding to gallium however have been unable to achieve monetary backing regardless of, in some circumstances, many years of attempting.
The federal government in Nuuk stopped the controversial Kvanefjeld undertaking in southern Greenland — the place a Chinese language firm is a minority shareholder — as a result of the bottom contained not simply uncommon earths but additionally uranium.
Alongside regulatory challenges are logistical obstacles. Greenland has no roads connecting its cities, not to mention its mineral deposits. “You additionally should construct supporting infrastructure, in addition to the precise mine,” mentioned Svend Hardenberg of Power Transition Minerals, the Kvanefjeld undertaking’s developer. “Additionally there’s an absence of expert staff, because it’s an business not but matured.”
“The US and Europe want entry to uncommon earth parts, since China has a de facto monopoly,” Hardenberg mentioned.
Roderick McIllree, govt director of 80 Mile, a UK-listed miner with three initiatives in Greenland, mentioned he hoped Trump might unblock the state of affairs.
He mentioned: “Individuals suppose Greenland is simply too arduous, too arduous. Then Donald Trump turns up and says Greenland is possibly probably the most priceless piece of actual property on the planet, and immediately everybody needs to take a position.”
“It’s a paradigm shift in sentiment. Greenland is now on the agenda. It’s a land of unbelievable alternative.”
