There Greenland It is at the center of the interests of the American President Donald Trumpwho would like to annex it to the United States, both for its strategic position for the control of commercial routes and from a military point of view and for natural resources And mining which hosts. In fact, the progressive and increasingly fusion of the ice cap, in fact, has made it accessible vast territories rich in stones And precious metals and to oil and natural gas reserves. In particular, numerous deposits have been identified in Greenland Critic raw materialsincluding rare lands, graphite, nickel, lithium and zinc. The subsoil of the “green land” also houses deposits of uranium, gold, diamonds And rubies. However, the presence of these resources does not imply the fact that they can be easily exploited: the defrastructure deficiencythe Extreme climatic conditions he is costs proportionally too high They can represent an insurmountable obstacle. For these reasons, as well as for environmental reasons, most of the mining extraction projects on the largest island in the world is still being exploited.
The merger of ice in Greenland
Due to global warming, Greenland has lost about twenty years 270 billion tons of ice per year. In this period of time, the melting rate of the cap is increased by five times and they appeared over 1600 km of new rocky coastsfirst covered by ice, and numerous islands. Greenland is currently still covered for about 80% from the icebut this percentage could drop quickly if the merger will continue to the current rhythms. Among the consequences of the phenomenon there is the outcrop along the coasts of rocks rich in raw materials that had never had access before.
The deposits of rare lands and critical subjects of Greenland
Based on the reports of the Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland (Geus), Greenland represents a remarkable potential for Critic raw materialsmaterials of enormous economic importance especially for the technological industry and for the energy transition, whose supply, however, is limited. Only Rare Terre reserves estimated in Greenland, according to the US Geological Survey, in 2023 they amounted to 1.5 million tons.
The Geus reports significant deposits of critical raw materials in different areas of Greenland:
- Southern Greenland: here they are found rare earth (Rare Earth Elements – Ree), associated with lithium, fluorite, tantalio And niobiumin the great deposits of Kvanefeld/Kuannersuit, Kringlerne/Killavaat Alannguat and Motzfeldt. There is also the deposit of graphite by Amitsq;
- Eastern Greenland: hosts the great deposit of molybdenum of Malmbjerg, the field of Platinum, titanium and vanadium of Skaergaard and the deposit of strontium of Karstrygen;
- Western Greenland: characterized by the great deposits of feldspati by Majoqqap, Qaaava and Qaqortorsuaq and from the great deposit of rare earth And phosphorus by Sarfartoq;
- Northern Greenland: hosts the deposit of titanium of Moriusaq and it is estimated that it could also be home to zinc and lead deposits.
The other mining resources of Greenland
According to the US Geological Survey, the subsoil of Greenland hosts reserves of petrolium equal to 13% of the world ones and reserves of natural gas equal to 30% of the world ones. However, their extraction is currently prohibited for environmental reasons.
Another abundant resource in Greenland, in particular in its southern part, is theuranium. This is found in the Kvanefeld deposits, but for environmental reasons in 2021 the extraction was prohibited. In southern Greenland there is also thegoldin particular in the area of the Songiligaarsuk Fiordo and on Mount Nalunaq, where an important mine is active.
THE diamonds They are mainly found in Western Greenland, but also the ancient rocks of southern Greenland have the potential to host them. In the south-western area of the island, near the fjords of AAppaluttoq, the rubies.
