As mining companies and governments zero in on Greenland’s mineral wealth, hopes for independence rise, but so do the risks.
NUUK, Greenland—Taatsi Olsen knows what it takes to start searching for minerals in Greenland.
In a warehouse on the outskirts of the capital, Nuuk, he walked through the nuts and bolts of mining exploration in the cold, sparsely populated country: walls of tools and harnesses and small trailers flown to remote sites by helicopter, essential in a place where no roads go from town to town.
Olsen pointed out that Greenland’s unique settlement pattern—isolated fishing villages scattered across hundreds of miles of rocky islands and fjords—can have advantages for miners.
“If you are in a remote area, there’s a good chance that there’s a small village nearby,” he told The Epoch Times.
Olsen is chief operating officer of X-Ploration Services Greenland. The company, which supports mineral exploration on the island, could prosper if the Danish territory’s rare earth deposits prove to be a boon.
Yet he knows the odds against individual success. Olsen estimates that just one in a thousand exploratory projects in Greenland yields a mine.
“It’s just that difficult to find something where the economics make sense,” he said.
President Donald Trump has cited Greenland’s rare earths, estimated at 1.5 million tons, as a significant reason to fold it into the United States.
Critical minerals are used in many advanced technologies, including cellphones and defense systems. The industry is currently dominated by China.
For now, just two mines are operating in Greenland, and neither mines rare earths.
Yet mining isn’t new to Greenland. It’s part of a long history that entangles the world’s largest island with Denmark and the United States.
Advocates of rare earth mining hope it will help the case for Greenland’s independence. Many seek additional revenue streams in a territory dominated by seafood exports, government employment, and a yearly block grant from Denmark.
“We have to strengthen the economy,” Svend Hardenberg, a Greenlander involved in efforts to develop rare earth mining, told The Epoch Times.
