True or false? “Greenland is full of mining wealth”

An ice desert, a population that would hold in a football stadium … But a basement which sharpens the appetite of the powerful. Since his election, Donald Trump has not hidden his ambition: buying Greenland-autonomous territory attached to Denmark-to annex it to the United States. “We will have 100 % Greenland,” said the American president, without excluding the use of “military force”. The pressure rises on the largest island in the world (four times the size of France) and its 57,000 inhabitants, which have just elected a new government in March 2025.

Gold, rubies, iron, zinc, uranium, cobalt, graphite … And especially rare earths, these essential metals for the defense industry and the energy transition. The soils of the region, very well mapped, have something to stir up lusts. The European Union has spotted 25 of the 34 minerals on its official list of critical raw materials there. The United States has a comparable inventory. And with the melting of ice due to climatic disruption, access to these deposits, especially on the ribs, becomes theoretically simpler.

In fact, on the other hand, if the resources exist, Their exploitation is still very marginal. Only two mines are today in activity: one exploits the abortion (containing titanium), the other the ruby ​​and the pink sapphire. The lack of infrastructure and labor (only 118 people worked in the mining sector in 2021), the logistical challenges linked to a hostile arctic environment-80 % of the island is covered with ice-seriously complicate all large-scale exploitation. Added to this is the reluctance of part of the Greenlandic population, shared between the desire for economic development and the desire to preserve its way of life.

If Greenland attracts by its Arctic resources, It is above all his strategic position that makes him a target. The country is located in the heart of an showdown between the United States, China and Russia. For the time being, so it is not an open -air mine. And it may well be that he never becomes it.

Sources: European Commission; Statista.