NUUK, Greenland—Taatsi Olsen knows what it takes to start searching for minerals in Greenland.
In a warehouse on the outskirts of the capital, Nuuk, he walked through the nuts and bolts of mining exploration in the cold, sparsely populated country: walls of tools and harnesses and small trailers flown to remote sites by helicopter, essential in a place where no roads go from town to town.
Olsen pointed out that Greenland’s unique settlement pattern—isolated fishing villages scattered across hundreds of miles of rocky islands and fjords—can have advantages for miners.
“If you are in a remote area, there’s a good chance that there’s a small village nearby,” he told The Epoch Times.
Olsen is chief operating officer of X-Ploration Services Greenland. The company, which supports mineral exploration on the island, could prosper if the Danish territory’s rare earth deposits prove to be a boon.
Yet he knows the odds against individual success. Olsen estimates that just one in a thousand exploratory projects in Greenland yields a mine.
“It’s just that difficult to find something where the economics make sense,” he said.
Critical minerals are used in many advanced technologies, including cellphones and defense systems. The industry is currently dominated by China.
For now, just two mines are operating in Greenland, and neither mines rare earths.
Yet mining isn’t new to Greenland. It’s part of a long history that entangles the world’s largest island with Denmark and the United States.
Advocates of rare earth mining hope it will help the case for Greenland’s independence. Many seek additional revenue streams in a territory dominated by seafood exports, government employment, and a yearly block grant from Denmark.
Mining, Past and Future
Mining in Greenland has roots that reach back to the 1720s, when a Lutheran pastor, Hans Egede, came to Greenland in search of the Vikings who vanished after settling there more than a thousand years ago. The Danish Norwegian pioneer founded a new colony on the island. A few decades later, small-scale mining began.
One site dating back to the 1850s—the cryolite mine in Ivittuut—proved vital in the 20th century.
Cryolite was necessary in the production of aluminum, and Ivittuut was the only commercial source.
During World War II, Ivittuut proved so crucial to the Allied war effort that the United States set up a naval base nearby to protect it. To this day, the United States maintains a military base in far northern Pituffik.
The promise of rare earths has also drawn attention to the Tanbreez project, a deposit near the town of Narsaq in Southern Greenland.
Horn told The Epoch Times that Tanbreez has sparked interest from a private-sector delegation he led. The group included executives from the mining firms Critical Metals Corp, American Renewable Metals, Refracture, and Cogency Power.
Horn has also partnered with Hardenberg on a seaweed treatment project, which would resemble a state-owned operation developed by Royal Greenland.
Tour guide Pakkutannguaq Larsen said that although she is in favor of Greenland independence, she is not eager for more extractive industry.
“We want to keep the nature as it is,” she told The Epoch Times.
Olsen, whose firm has not been involved in Tanbreez, said Trump’s attention toward his home country has fueled both excitement and uncertainty.
U.S. companies are not yet lining up to work with X-Ploration Services, which specializes in logistics, planning, and related areas.
“Most of our customers are Canadians,” Olsen added.
Nikoline Ziemer, a biologist involved in Royal Greenland’s seaweed project, said she hopes the government will not withdraw licenses as it has in the past.
“We have to have a stable policy around that because it injures the credibility of Greenland as a possibility for mining,” she said.
In 2021, the country stripped a Chinese firm of an iron ore mining license. That same year, the territory ceased offering new oil exploration licenses.
Olsen said he thinks the government, now under different leadership, could reverse course on the latter decision.
A Dependent Economy
Olsen, Hardenberg, Ziemer, and Larsen are not outliers.Almost every Greenlander who spoke to The Epoch Times saw a bid for independence from Denmark on the horizon—although the timeline is unclear after March’s election. Independence could also help Greenlanders forge closer ties with the United States if they so choose.
Hardenberg said rare earths are one means of moving the territory toward greater autonomy.
Ziemer agreed. Speaking for herself and not Royal Greenland, she said the territory’s reliance on fisheries is “not a viable economical [model].”
Hardenberg, who once served in the government, said that he thinks Greenland would be more dynamic if it “freed up more people from the public sector to more productive jobs.”
Not all mining-related activity will translate into work for locals.
Olsen said Greenland’s small population—fewer than 60,000 people—means that mining exploration must draw on some foreign talent.
“There’s not that many geologists and experts [here],” he said.
He said more jobs for blue-collar Greenlanders will be available if mining advances from exploration to exploitation.
On the Ground
In Nuuk, home to some 20,000 people, the economic picture seemed mixed.While some streets were lined with decaying housing blocks, others glittered with new construction.
High above the city, an international airport will soon host flights from Scandinavian Airlines and United Airlines, boosting hopes of tourism.
At a government-funded “Fight Club,” where young boxers sparred before a cheering crowd, Ethan Ingholt told The Epoch Times he came to Nuuk from Denmark.
In Denmark, he worked as an arborist. Now, in a land with no trees, he’s a construction manager.
“If you’re willing to work, there’s always jobs,” he said.
Inunnguaq Korneliussen, a student at the event, told The Epoch Times that the economy “is OK right now” but “getting bad.” He cited rising grocery prices.
A few streets away, Jens Smith was selling seafood at a market stall. One popular item was lumpfish roe, a delicacy similar to sturgeon caviar.
As Smith spoke, a man walked in and quickly purchased two bags of roe.
Smith told The Epoch Times that many customers resell his goods in Denmark, where Greenlandic seafood can fetch high prices.
He said the winter has been tough for fishing.
“The water is too cold right now,” he said.
Larsen, an opponent of mining, said she hopes to open her own tour company. She said tourism could help Greenland go its own way, like Iceland did.
Hardenberg said the recent election revealed one commonality across Greenland: “Everybody is agreeing that we need to create our own future. We need to be steering and controlling our own destiny.”
