Greenland's rare earths face major extraction challenges

Greenland sits on large rare earth deposits, but harsh climate, remote infrastructure and difficult geology have so far prevented commercial mining.

Greenland has been discussed recently as a potential source of rare earth elements amid U.S. interest in diversifying supplies. U.S. political leaders have raised the idea of greater control or influence over the island, and the U.S. government has invested in some mining and processing firms. Despite that attention, companies working in Greenland remain mostly at the exploration stage and face large technical and logistical obstacles. The island’s climate, infrastructure gaps and the type of rock containing the minerals are central barriers to commercial production. Key facts: - The article reports about 1.5 million tons of rare earths are encased in Greenland rock, but most efforts remain exploratory and no commercial mine has been built there yet. - Remoteness and lack of infrastructure are major challenges: few roads, no railways in populated areas, the need for local power generation and imported skilled workers were all cited. - Geology complicates extraction: many Greenland deposits are in eudialyte rock, for which no profitable large-scale extraction process has been established, unlike carbonatite-hosted deposits elsewhere. - Environmental concerns include the use of toxic chemicals for separation processes and the frequent association of rare earths with radioactive uranium, raising potential pollution risks. - Several companies are exploring deposits and one company announced plans for a pilot plant, but projects would still need hundreds of millions of dollars to develop into mines. - The article notes that most processing capacity and a large share of global rare earth output remain in China, which affects market dynamics and project viability elsewhere. Summary: Large deposits exist but significant technical, environmental and financial barriers mean commercial production is unlikely in the near term. Several exploration projects and some pilot plans have been announced, yet most remain early-stage and would require major investment and new infrastructure. Undetermined at this time.