Greenland’s thwarted rare earths miner hopes for change in March election
Greenlanders are set to go to the polls next month as US President Donald Trump increases pressure on Denmark to transfer sovereignty of the semi-autonomous Arctic island to the United States.
Australia-based Energy Transition Minerals, the mining company that holds the license for controversial rare earths and uranium deposits, is hoping the social-democratic Siumut Party – currently the second-largest contingent in the Greenlandic parliament, known as the Inatsisartut – will oust the ruling left-wing environmentalist Inuit Ataqatigiit Party in the March 11 election. The two parties are currently in a governing coalition together, with IA in the top position, but Siumut has attracted attention by pledging to hold a referendum on independence from Denmark this year.
After taking power in 2021, the IA banned uranium mining, effectively halting exploration of what Energy Transition Minerals bills as potentially the largest deposit of rare earth oxides in the world. Rare earths are a family of 17 metallic minerals needed for the batteries and magnets used for electric cars, power plants, and fighter jets. China dominates the supply chain, controlling roughly 70% of all mining and 90% of refining capacity.
The IA opposed the mining because of the high density of uranium mixed into the ore, which it feared would generate radioactive pollution along the island’s southwest coast, where much of the mostly indigenous population of roughly 57,000 lives.
Now, Energy Transition Minerals is betting Siumut, under whose rule the mining project was originally approved, will win and lift the moratorium to help generate more income for Greenland to achieve economic self-sufficiency and open the door to a long-sought breakaway from the Danish kingdom.
Awkward technicalities: With 7% of the company, Energy Transition’s largest shareholder is China’s Shenghe Resources, but the firm has vowed to supply the West with its metals. Thanks to America’s trade deals with the European Union and Australia, however, arcane Treasury rules may mean the Melbourne-headquartered company’s rare earths qualify for lucrative US tax credits. With the stock price trading at a fraction of a penny per share, however, Wall Street has doubts about the mining firm’s future.