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Released January 20, 2025 | SUGAR LAND
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Written by Paul Wiseman for Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Pundits have had a field day with the president-elect's declarations about annexing at least parts of Canada and buying Greenland. Especially the Canada part.
For Greenland, many ask why there would be any interest in perhaps the most mis-named geographical region on the globe. The story goes that Norse explorer Erik the Red realized that the name of nearby Iceland reduced the interest of settlers to move to that island, so he gave Greenland its more inviting name.
In another confusing meme, it is only the world's largest island in the sense that Australia, four times larger, is an island that is also a continent.
What is clear is that Greenland is rich in minerals--particularly many of the rare earth metals (REMs) critical to energy transition technology--and currently mostly available from China. Mining investors in both the U.S. and the EU have had their eye on Greenland's REMs along with gold, oil and gas and other resources for decades. Its remoteness, scant population (i.e. workforce), and abundant permafrost have made it difficult to mine.
Greenland also has been targeted for oil and gas exploration, with a 2021 Reuters story saying, "According to a 2007 U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) report, the underground in the northeast of Greenland potentially contains up to 31.4 billion barrels of oil equivalent."
However, that same story reported that in 2021 Greenland's government decided to cease issuing exploration licenses, citing 50 years of failure to find economically viable resources, along with climate change concerns. Giants like Shell plc (NYSE:SHEL) (London, England), Chevron Corporation (NYSE:CVX) (San Ramon, California), Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE:XOM) (Spring, Texas) and others had drilled exploratory wells since the 1970s with little success.
Resistance Is Real
Greenland has stated that it has no interest in joining the U.S. In 2009, Denmark and Greenland enacted the Self-Government Act, which recognized Greenland as a separate nation, with the option of independence. Earlier this year, Greenland Prime Minister Múte Bourup Egede said that "work has already begun on creating the framework for Greenland as an independent state," and implied that a referendum on such could be voted on as soon as April 2025.
While geographically part of North America, Greenland's ties to Europe are strong, and it has always considered itself more European than American.
Greenland's MoU with the EU
Because of those ties, Greenland and the EU signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) regarding mining the former's minerals in November 2023. In a statement, the EU Economic Commission said, "The signature of the MoU will contribute to the development of sustainable projects along the raw materials value chains, and to the deployment of infrastructure required to develop them."
This could further complicate any U.S. advances.
Mines in the Works
As all this plays out, Industrial Info is tracking 15 active metals and minerals projects in Greenland, including those for:
Energy Transition Minerals Slump
It may be a while before any Greenland miners make money. Tremendous overestimation of consumer adoption of various types of electric vehicles led to a similar overinvestment in mining operations, according to a recent Reuters report. "After slumping in 2023, prices of lithium, cobalt and nickel ground steadily lower in 2024," Reuters said.
Cobalt prices are falling under the weight of additional production from the Democratic Republic of Congo, where China's CMOC Group is the largest producer. And a boom in nickel production from Indonesia has swamped that market as well as the market for cobalt, which is a byproduct of nickel production.
U.S. Has Tried this Before
This idea of buying Greenland isn't new. In 1946, as the world was still recovering from World War II, then U.S. Secretary of State James Byrnes offered Denmark $100 million for Greenland, as it and neighbor Iceland were considered two of the three most critical locations for American bases.
In fact, during the war, the U.S. invoked the Monroe Doctrine, which states that the U.S. has the right to protect itself against threats from foreign powers anywhere in the Western Hemisphere, and occupied the entire island. Rebuffed by Denmark in 1946, the U.S. settled for establishing a military base there.
Defense issues are at play again in 2025 as arctic ice melts may open previously frozen waterways. China and Russia are believed to be eyeing those areas at least for trade, so maintaining at least a U.S. military presence there could be important to national security--hopefully for Greenland as well.
How this issue plays out remains to be seen, but any U.S. purchase seems unlikely at this time.
Industrial Info Resources (IIR) is the leading provider of industrial market intelligence. Since 1983, IIR has provided comprehensive research, news and analysis on the industrial process, manufacturing and energy related industries. IIR's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) platform helps companies identify and pursue trends across multiple markets with access to real, qualified and validated plant and project opportunities. Across the world, IIR is tracking more than 200,000 current and future projects worth $17.8 trillion (USD).
For Greenland, many ask why there would be any interest in perhaps the most mis-named geographical region on the globe. The story goes that Norse explorer Erik the Red realized that the name of nearby Iceland reduced the interest of settlers to move to that island, so he gave Greenland its more inviting name.
In another confusing meme, it is only the world's largest island in the sense that Australia, four times larger, is an island that is also a continent.
What is clear is that Greenland is rich in minerals--particularly many of the rare earth metals (REMs) critical to energy transition technology--and currently mostly available from China. Mining investors in both the U.S. and the EU have had their eye on Greenland's REMs along with gold, oil and gas and other resources for decades. Its remoteness, scant population (i.e. workforce), and abundant permafrost have made it difficult to mine.
Greenland also has been targeted for oil and gas exploration, with a 2021 Reuters story saying, "According to a 2007 U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) report, the underground in the northeast of Greenland potentially contains up to 31.4 billion barrels of oil equivalent."
However, that same story reported that in 2021 Greenland's government decided to cease issuing exploration licenses, citing 50 years of failure to find economically viable resources, along with climate change concerns. Giants like Shell plc (NYSE:SHEL) (London, England), Chevron Corporation (NYSE:CVX) (San Ramon, California), Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE:XOM) (Spring, Texas) and others had drilled exploratory wells since the 1970s with little success.
Resistance Is Real
Greenland has stated that it has no interest in joining the U.S. In 2009, Denmark and Greenland enacted the Self-Government Act, which recognized Greenland as a separate nation, with the option of independence. Earlier this year, Greenland Prime Minister Múte Bourup Egede said that "work has already begun on creating the framework for Greenland as an independent state," and implied that a referendum on such could be voted on as soon as April 2025.
While geographically part of North America, Greenland's ties to Europe are strong, and it has always considered itself more European than American.
Greenland's MoU with the EU
Because of those ties, Greenland and the EU signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) regarding mining the former's minerals in November 2023. In a statement, the EU Economic Commission said, "The signature of the MoU will contribute to the development of sustainable projects along the raw materials value chains, and to the deployment of infrastructure required to develop them."
This could further complicate any U.S. advances.
Mines in the Works
As all this plays out, Industrial Info is tracking 15 active metals and minerals projects in Greenland, including those for:
- molybdenum
- unspecified rare earths
- nickel-copper-cobalt
- graphite
- gold
- palladium-gold
- zinc-lead
- nickel-copper-cobalt
Energy Transition Minerals Slump
It may be a while before any Greenland miners make money. Tremendous overestimation of consumer adoption of various types of electric vehicles led to a similar overinvestment in mining operations, according to a recent Reuters report. "After slumping in 2023, prices of lithium, cobalt and nickel ground steadily lower in 2024," Reuters said.
Cobalt prices are falling under the weight of additional production from the Democratic Republic of Congo, where China's CMOC Group is the largest producer. And a boom in nickel production from Indonesia has swamped that market as well as the market for cobalt, which is a byproduct of nickel production.
U.S. Has Tried this Before
This idea of buying Greenland isn't new. In 1946, as the world was still recovering from World War II, then U.S. Secretary of State James Byrnes offered Denmark $100 million for Greenland, as it and neighbor Iceland were considered two of the three most critical locations for American bases.
In fact, during the war, the U.S. invoked the Monroe Doctrine, which states that the U.S. has the right to protect itself against threats from foreign powers anywhere in the Western Hemisphere, and occupied the entire island. Rebuffed by Denmark in 1946, the U.S. settled for establishing a military base there.
Defense issues are at play again in 2025 as arctic ice melts may open previously frozen waterways. China and Russia are believed to be eyeing those areas at least for trade, so maintaining at least a U.S. military presence there could be important to national security--hopefully for Greenland as well.
How this issue plays out remains to be seen, but any U.S. purchase seems unlikely at this time.
Industrial Info Resources (IIR) is the leading provider of industrial market intelligence. Since 1983, IIR has provided comprehensive research, news and analysis on the industrial process, manufacturing and energy related industries. IIR's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) platform helps companies identify and pursue trends across multiple markets with access to real, qualified and validated plant and project opportunities. Across the world, IIR is tracking more than 200,000 current and future projects worth $17.8 trillion (USD).
