Global climate change is a pressing concern for humanity, caused by human activities. Despite its negative impact, it also represents an economic opportunity. The Arctic is warming rapidly, causing ice to shrink by the size of Austria each year. This alarming situation highlights the need for global action to address this pressing global issue.
Greenland, an autonomous Danish territory located between the Arctic and Atlantic oceans, is undergoing a dramatic transformation due to global warming. A major analysis of historical satellite images by researchers at the University of Leeds shows that the autonomous Danish territory is increasingly turning green. Melting ice has replaced parts of Greenland’s ice sheet and glaciers with wetlands, wastelands and barren rocks, making it easier for mining companies to start a mining boom similar to the “gold rush” of the 19th century.
The disappearance of ice has made it easier for mining companies to reach remote locations, making them a Western alternative to China’s near-total monopoly on rare earth elements. British mining company 80 Mile is currently developing three projects in Greenland, including a large oil concession on the island’s east coast, a titanium project in the northwest, and the Disko-Nussuaq project in the southwest, one of the world’s largest nickel and copper deposits.
Critical Metals CEO Tony Sage, which is developing one of the world’s largest rare earth deposits in Greenland, says the melting ice on the island has done him “huge favours” from a logistical point of view. The company has been able to bring large ships directly from the North Atlantic to its Tanpres site in southern Greenland, and the creation of 80-metre-deep fjords has meant the company has been able to build and use a floating dock rather than needing a port.
Greenland is particularly rich in this regard, with reserves of 43 of the 50 minerals the US government considers “critical”, and 42 million tonnes of known Arctic rare earths, most of which have high or relatively moderate economic potential. These rare metals include graphite, niobium, platinum group metals, molybdenum, tantalum, titanium, lithium, hafnium, uranium and gold. Rare metals are essential to the energy transition and have broad applications in electric power, vehicle batteries, energy storage technologies and national security applications.