Greenland’s appeal lies in its strategic location and wealth of resources. The world’s largest island occupies a key position between North America and Europe, and is becoming increasingly interesting as the Arctic warms four times faster than the rest of the planet. Melting ice is revealing untapped reserves of rare earth minerals, oil and natural gas.
Beneath its desolate expanse of ice, Greenland holds some of the world’s largest untapped reserves of minerals used to make everything from smartphones and electric cars to F-35 fighter jets. Under its ice are vast reserves of lithium, niobium, cobalt and other materials that are of great interest to the United States because they could help reduce its dependence on China, which currently dominates the global market for these elements.
Greenland has positioned itself as a Western alternative to list of real mobile number database mining many rare earth elements and minerals – a sector dominated by China – attracting the attention of U.S. officials keen to keep Beijing and Moscow out. Western capitals are increasingly aware of the need to diversify their supply chains and ensure they are not dependent on China or Russia for minerals used in defense production. But that has not translated into the funding and investment needed for mining companies to launch projects in a tough place like Greenland, said Greenland’s mining minister, Naaja Nathanielsen, calling it a geopolitical mistake .
"If we put aside the rhetoric, I hear Trump saying that he believes that Greenland's natural resources should be used. And we completely agree with him on that."
Naaya Nathanielsen
Minister of Mines of Greenland
Despite the displeasure with Trump's tone, many Greenlanders saw a positive side to the new president's interest in their homeland, because it raised the issue of the territory's independence from Denmark. But Greenland still has a lot of work to do on its economy, Nathanielsen said.
Despite the fact that many companies hold licenses to extract vast amounts of resources in the Arctic, not a single large mine is in operation, a disappointing fact acknowledged by Greenlandic officials and mining executives, which makes Donald Trump's plan even more likely to succeed.