A mining company hoping to tap into Greenland’s vast store of rare earths has found itself at the center of an international legal, environmental and political battle that’s heating up as the U.S. and China face off over raw materials.
A plan to excavate valuable minerals at the so-called Kvanefjeld deposit in the southern reaches of the Danish territory near the town of Narsaq has been mired in a legal fight since the Greenlandic government reinstated a ban on uranium mining in 2021. Digging up rare earths at the site would also unearth radioactive uranium that can leave behind toxic waste. The prospect fueled opposition over fears of contamination.
Now, Australia-based Energy Transition Minerals, the project developer, is suing the Greenlandic and Danish governments to reinstate its exploration license or secure up to $11.5 billion in compensation. Daniel Mamadou-Blanco, ETM’s managing director, said the ban was imposed for “political reasons” and the mine is needed for renewable energy, defense, and now hyperscalers and data centers as demand booms around the world. The Chinese company Shenghe Resources holds a less than 6 percent stake in ETM, formerly Greenland Minerals, he said.
“We actually have a perfect storm,” Mamadou-Blanco told POLITICO’s E&E News from the sidelines of a mining conference in Toronto. “We’re talking about the U.S., we’re talking about Europe, we’re talking about Asia, we’re talking about China. It’s a tsunami of demand, really.”
