Dear MEL Topic Readers,
The story behind the scramble for Greenland's rare earths
Greenland is the world’s largest island, larger than France, Germany,
Spain, UK, and Italy combined, and about three times larger than Texas. The northern,
ice-covered island is an autonomous territory in Denmark and is inhabited by
about 57,000 dwellers. Greenland’s main economy is fishing, but the tourism
industry is growing as a new airport opened in Nuuk last year, and two more airports
are due to open next year. Greenland is also abundant in untapped natural
resources, such as lithium, iron ore, gold, and also rare earth elements, which
are vital for many essential modern technologies, including smartphones, TV
screens, EVs, and even fighter jets. More than 60% of such rare earth elements
are mined in China, most of which is processed there. The melting ice sheet has
made previously inaccessible deposits of these crucial resources exploitable,
and that is why Greenland has become a hot spot in mining projects and
territorial disputes caused by the US. However, it is no easy task to build
infrastructure for mining, transportation, and shipment in the icy, remote territory
in accordance with environmental regulations.
Read the article and learn what is hot in the icy Greenland.
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