Greenland’s 1.5 million tons of rare earths may remain unmined due to lack of roads

A harsh environment, a lack of essential infrastructure, and challenging geology have so far prevented the establishment of a mine to extract the highly sought-after rare earth elements crucial for many high-tech products. Even if President Donald Trump’s efforts are successful, these obstacles will persist.

Trump has made it a priority to break China’s dominance over the global rare earth supply since the world’s second-largest economy imposed restrictions on who could purchase them following the U.S. imposition of broad tariffs last spring. The Trump administration has since invested in and even taken stakes in several companies. Now, the president is once again proposing that acquiring Greenland from Denmark could resolve the issue.

“We are going to do something on Greenland whether they like it or not,” Trump stated on Friday.

However, Greenland may not be able to produce rare earths for years, if ever. While some companies are attempting to do so, their efforts to extract the estimated 1.5 million tons of rare earths embedded in Greenland’s rocks have generally not progressed beyond the exploration phase. Trump’s interest in the island nation may be more about countering Russian and Chinese influence in the Arctic than securing the difficult-to-pronounce elements like neodymium and terbium, which are vital for producing the powerful magnets used in electric vehicles, wind turbines, robots, and fighter jets, among other applications.

“The focus on Greenland has consistently been more about geopolitical maneuvering—a military-strategic interest and a stock-promotion narrative—rather than a practical supply solution for the technology sector,” commented Tracy Hughes, founder and executive director of the Critical Minerals Institute. “The excitement significantly outweighs the scientific and economic realities of these critical minerals.”

Trump reiterated these geopolitical concerns at the White House on Friday.

“We don’t want Russia or China going to Greenland, which if we don’t take Greenland, you can have Russia or China as your next door neighbor. That’s not going to happen,” Trump said.

A challenging location for mining

The primary obstacle to mining in Greenland is, “of course, the remoteness. Even in the populated southern regions, there are very few roads and no railways, meaning any mining operation would need to establish these access routes,” explained Diogo Rosa, an economic geology researcher at the Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland. Local power generation would also be necessary, and skilled labor would need to be brought in.

Another concern is the potential impact of rare earth mining on the fragile Arctic environment, particularly as Greenland aims to develop a robust tourism industry, according to Patrick Schröder, a senior fellow in the Environment and Society program at the Chatham House think-tank in London.

“Toxic chemicals are required to separate the minerals from the rock, which can be highly polluting, and this extends to the processing further downstream as well,” Schröder noted. Additionally, rare earths are frequently found in proximity to radioactive uranium.

Beyond the severe climate, which covers much of Greenland in ice and freezes the northern fjords for extended periods, the rare earths found there are typically embedded in a complex rock type known as eudialyte. No profitable method has yet been developed to extract rare earths from this specific rock formation. In other locations, these elements are commonly found in different rock formations called carbonatites, for which established extraction methods exist.

“If we are in a competition for resources—for critical minerals—then we should be concentrating on the resources that can most readily reach the market,” stated David Abraham, a rare earths expert with decades of experience in the industry and author of the book “The Elements of Power.”

This week, Critical Metals’ stock price more than doubled following its announcement of plans to construct a pilot plant in Greenland this year. However, this company, along with over a dozen others exploring deposits on the island, remains a considerable distance from actual mine construction and would still need to secure at least hundreds of millions of dollars.

Rare earth production is a difficult undertaking

Even the most promising projects can face difficulties in achieving profitability, especially when China employs strategies such as flooding the market with excess materials to suppress prices and drive competitors out of business, a tactic it has used repeatedly in the past. Currently, the majority of critical minerals require processing in China.

The U.S. is actively working to increase the supply of rare earths outside of China, particularly in light of potential trade tensions and the possibility of even stricter restrictions, which Trump indicated Xi Jinping had agreed to. Several companies globally are already producing rare earths or magnets and can deliver them more quickly than any potential operation in Greenland, which Trump has threatened to take action against if Denmark does not agree to sell it.

“Everyone has been rushing to reach this final stage. And if you go to Greenland, it’s like starting all over again,” said Ian Lange, an economics professor specializing in rare earths at the Colorado School of Mines.

Focusing on more viable projects elsewhere

Many within the industry also believe that the U.S. should prioritize supporting established companies rather than attempting to develop new rare earth mines in Greenland, Australia, or other locations. Several other mining projects in the U.S. and Canada are further along in development and situated in more accessible areas.

The U.S. government has directly invested in the company operating the sole rare earths mine in the U.S., as well as a lithium miner and a company that recycles batteries and other products containing rare earths.

Scott Dunn, CEO of Noveon Magnetics, stated that these investments should contribute more to reducing China’s influence, but it is challenging to alter the market dynamics rapidly when over 90% of the world’s rare earths originate from China.

“There are very few entities that can demonstrate a track record of successful delivery in any of these areas, and that should clearly be our starting point, especially in my opinion if you are the U.S. government,” said Dunn, whose company is already producing over 2,000 metric tons of magnets annually at a plant in Texas, utilizing elements sourced from outside China.

___

Funk reported from Omaha, Nebraska, and Naishadham reported from Madrid.