Critical Minerals: The Truth About Greenland's Hidden Wealth That Attracted Trump's Interest

Critical Minerals: The Truth About Greenland’s Hidden Wealth That Attracted Trump’s Interest

Written by Rafaela Fabris

Published on 09/01/2025 at 16:33

Os minerais críticos da Groenlândia, como lítio, níquel e terras raras, são essenciais para baterias, turbinas e veículos elétricos. Eles estão no centro das disputas globais por recursos para a transição energética.

1 person reacted to this.

With 31.4 billion barrels of oil and vast reserves of critical minerals essential for the energy transition, Greenland has become the center of a geopolitical dispute that attracted even Donald Trump.

When Donald Trump expressed interest in buying Greenland, many reacted with disbelief. However, behind this unusual proposal lies a strategic backdrop: critical minerals, oil, and gas hidden beneath the ice. Greenland, an autonomous territory of Denmark, stands out as a key player in geopolitical disputes and the global energy transition.

The Current Scenario in Greenland

Since 2009, Greenland has had autonomy in various areas, but still depends on the Danish kingdom for defense and foreign policy matters. Its control over underground resources makes the territory highly strategic.

With accelerated melting due to global warming, Greenland has been revealing its natural wealth. Studies indicate that about 3.9 trillion tons of ice were lost between 1992 and 2018, exposing previously inaccessible reserves of critical minerals, oil, and gas.

ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW

Energy Reserves: Oil and Gas Under the Ice

The Geological Survey of Denmark estimates that the west coast of Greenland contains about 18 billion barrels of oil. U.S. data suggests even more impressive numbers: 31.4 billion barrels of oil and 148 trillion cubic feet of natural gas.

Despite the enormous energy potential, Greenland decided in 2021 to halt the issuance of new licenses for oil and gas exploration. This decision reflects the pursuit of a more sustainable future and environmental preservation.

Critical Minerals: Key to the Energy Transition

The island hosts a vast amount of critical minerals, such as lithium, nickel, cobalt, graphite, and rare earth metals. These resources are essential for clean energy technologies, such as batteries, wind turbines, and electric vehicles.

Greenland is strategic for diversifying the supply of critical minerals and reducing dependence on China, which dominates the production and processing of many of these materials. This geopolitical context reinforces U.S. interest in establishing greater influence in the region.

Geopolitical and Strategic Interests

Located in the Arctic Circle, Greenland is a strategic point between the U.S., Europe, and Russia. Besides natural resources, the geographic position offers military and commercial advantages.

China has already shown interest in financing mining projects in Greenland, raising concerns for the U.S. Diversifying the supply chain is crucial to ensure the economic and energy security of Western powers.

Is Greenland For Sale?

Trump’s proposal to purchase Greenland was firmly rejected by Denmark and Greenland. Local leaders emphasized that the territory is not for sale, especially at a time of increasing desire for independence from Denmark.

Even if it were feasible, buying Greenland would alter the global geopolitical balance. The implications go far beyond minerals and oil, touching on the sovereignty of a people and the relationships between nations.

Greenland is not just a mass of ice isolated in the Arctic; it is a territory rich in natural resources and strategically positioned. Trump’s interest reflects the growing importance of critical minerals in the energy transition and geopolitical disputes. However, the issue goes beyond resources: it involves sovereignty, sustainability, and the future of a territory crucial to the world.

Critical Minerals: The Truth About Greenland’s Hidden Wealth That Attracted Trump’s Interest

With 31.4 billion barrels of oil and vast reserves of critical minerals essential for the energy transition, Greenland has become the center of a geopolitical dispute that attracted even Donald Trump.

The Current Scenario in Greenland

Energy Reserves: Oil and Gas Under the Ice

Critical Minerals: Key to the Energy Transition

Geopolitical and Strategic Interests

Is Greenland For Sale?

Elon Musk’s internet comes to mobile: Starlink technology connects smartphones without an antenna via satellite, works even without carrier signal, already costs just US$10 extra in the US, and could arrive in Brazil as an included benefit.

Seven world powers including the US, China, and Russia are spending €22 billion on a reactor in the south of France that aims to confine plasma at 150 million degrees Celsius, ten times the temperature of the Sun’s core, using a magnetic field capable of lifting an entire aircraft carrier.

A Chinese factory in Guangdong is assembling a humanoid robot every 30 minutes while Tesla, Figure, and Boston Dynamics still struggle to deliver 10 thousand per year.

While Brazil has been discussing bullet trains for 16 years, China delivers 5 new high-speed lines in 2026, surpasses 50,000 km of HSR, and moves 1 billion passengers in a single year.

With a wingspan of 152 meters, 76 tires, and a capacity to carry 1,270 tons, the Boeing Pelican was the giant “flying ship” that promised to cross oceans close to the water on an invisible air cushion beneath its wings.

In Niger, mud buildings have stood for ten generations while the world spends billions on concrete and steel, now African architects are proving at the Venice Biennale and in real projects that red earth can be the smartest and most sustainable building material of the 21st century.

While countries spend billions to draw water from the sea, a Nobel-winning scientist creates a container-sized machine that extracts up to 1,000 liters per day from dry air and uses ultrasound to release water in minutes, even in the middle of the desert.

Mine in the Arctic Circle was about to close, but surprised by revealing a rare 158-carat, 2-billion-year-old yellow diamond.

A newly discovered asteroid will pass by Earth closer than the Moon next Monday, at just 90,000 kilometers from the planet, according to NASA calculations, with no risk of impact and with a live broadcast by the Virtual Telescope Project.

While common pumps require a motor, energy, and constant maintenance, a technology in the Philippines uses the power of water to supply rural communities in high-altitude regions.

Dongfang breaks world record and manufactures 26 MW wind turbine in China with 137-meter blades that spin so slowly they appear stationary on the horizon.

While asphalt-covered cities in the U.S. debate where to find land for solar energy, a study shows that Walmart could generate 11.1 GW just by covering its 3,571 parking lots.

Critical Minerals: The Truth About Greenland’s Hidden Wealth That Attracted Trump’s Interest

With 31.4 billion barrels of oil and vast reserves of critical minerals essential for the energy transition, Greenland has become the center of a geopolitical dispute that attracted even Donald Trump.

The Current Scenario in Greenland

Energy Reserves: Oil and Gas Under the Ice

Critical Minerals: Key to the Energy Transition

Geopolitical and Strategic Interests

Is Greenland For Sale?

Elon Musk’s internet comes to mobile: Starlink technology connects smartphones without an antenna via satellite, works even without carrier signal, already costs just US$10 extra in the US, and could arrive in Brazil as an included benefit.

Seven world powers including the US, China, and Russia are spending €22 billion on a reactor in the south of France that aims to confine plasma at 150 million degrees Celsius, ten times the temperature of the Sun’s core, using a magnetic field capable of lifting an entire aircraft carrier.

A Chinese factory in Guangdong is assembling a humanoid robot every 30 minutes while Tesla, Figure, and Boston Dynamics still struggle to deliver 10 thousand per year.

While Brazil has been discussing bullet trains for 16 years, China delivers 5 new high-speed lines in 2026, surpasses 50,000 km of HSR, and moves 1 billion passengers in a single year.

With a wingspan of 152 meters, 76 tires, and a capacity to carry 1,270 tons, the Boeing Pelican was the giant “flying ship” that promised to cross oceans close to the water on an invisible air cushion beneath its wings.

In Niger, mud buildings have stood for ten generations while the world spends billions on concrete and steel, now African architects are proving at the Venice Biennale and in real projects that red earth can be the smartest and most sustainable building material of the 21st century.

While countries spend billions to draw water from the sea, a Nobel-winning scientist creates a container-sized machine that extracts up to 1,000 liters per day from dry air and uses ultrasound to release water in minutes, even in the middle of the desert.

Supermarkets closed on Sundays in Brazil: owner of the 4th largest chain in the country advocates for the permanent end of operations, reveals a 10% drop in turnover, and claims that the measure could solve the crisis with 4,000 open positions in the sector.

Discover which three banks will dominate 2026: focusing on credit, security, and international accounts

Gasoline could become up to R$ 0.89 cheaper per liter, the Lula government publishes this Wednesday (13) a provisional measure that tries to curb the increase at gas stations amid oil pressure, but the pass-through depends on producers and importers.

Municipal buses in Rio will stop accepting cash starting May 30, and passengers will need to use a card or app to pass through the turnstile, in a change that promises to speed up boarding and reduce the handling of money by drivers.

What is the Great Reset? The proposal by the World Economic Forum advocating for rebuilding the economy, consumption, technology, and work after major crises has become the target of theories about global control, digital surveillance, and concentration of power.

Mine in the Arctic Circle was about to close, but surprised by revealing a rare 158-carat, 2-billion-year-old yellow diamond.

A newly discovered asteroid will pass by Earth closer than the Moon next Monday, at just 90,000 kilometers from the planet, according to NASA calculations, with no risk of impact and with a live broadcast by the Virtual Telescope Project.

While common pumps require a motor, energy, and constant maintenance, a technology in the Philippines uses the power of water to supply rural communities in high-altitude regions.

Dongfang breaks world record and manufactures 26 MW wind turbine in China with 137-meter blades that spin so slowly they appear stationary on the horizon.

While asphalt-covered cities in the U.S. debate where to find land for solar energy, a study shows that Walmart could generate 11.1 GW just by covering its 3,571 parking lots.