Greenland: a raw materials paradise? Geologists go beyond the myth

American President Donald Trump has been eyeing Greenland and its raw materials for some time now, even though the rare-earth elements are difficult to extract due to the polar climate, the island's remote location and lack of infrastructure. Is Greenland really a geological goldmine that could break Western dependence on China? Geologists give some insights. 

By Kathelijne Bonne. This article appeared first in Dutch in the Belgian weekly magazine Knack (21/01/2026) (link to original publication). 

'I wouldn't immediately call Greenland an eldorado,' says geologist Romain Meyer from Luxembourg, who heads the Government of Greenland geology department in Nuuk. 'Mainly because of the major disadvantages associated with mining. It is true that Greenland is rich in some rare earth elements and critical raw materials. This is due to the extraordinary age of the region: rocks that are just under 4 billion years old are exposed here. If the entire history of the Earth were a book with seven chapters, Greenland would have them all and Belgium only the last one. The ancient rocks have undergone many geodynamic processes. This has resulted in a wide range of minerals.'

The region indeed looks like a geological treasure trove. A quick glance at a map of Greenland's raw materials shows gold, tungsten, nickel, lithium, molybdenum, uranium, copper, petroleum, coal, lead, diamonds, graphite, titanium, ruby, sapphire and so on. In some places, rare earth elements (REE) also pop up on the map.

Strange mineral complexes

Professor Stanislaw Mazur, head of department at the University of Krakow, has mapped rock layers throughout the polar region. He talks about the best-studied part of Greenland, the Gardar province in the southern tip of the island. 'There, the Ilímaussaq rock body is incredibly rich in minerals. It contains the famous Kvanefjeld deposit,' he says. Kvanefjeld, also known as Kuannersuit, is one of the top ten sources of rare earth elements in the world.

'Ilímaussaq is a so-called alkaline complex: a chunk of solidified magma that rose from the Earth's mantle and acquired a special composition through various mineralogical processes. This has favoured certain elements to concentrate, including a whole range of rare-earth elements,' says Mazur. Alkaline complexes are very heterogeneous in terms of minerals and therefore attractive targets. They also occur in ancient African rock, where, as in Greenland, they sometimes yield diamonds.

Greenland's mineral wealth can best be seen as an impregnable fortress in a godforsaken wilderness in a hostile climate.

'A little further north on the west coast of Greenland, I walked on a piece of the oldest seabed in the world,' says Meyer in awe. 'The extremely old belt of that piece of ocean also contains something else: carbonatite. This is an equally rare type of igneous rock, rich in rare earth metals.' In Tanzania, there is a volcano, Ol Doinyo Lengai, that produces carbonatite lava – it is the only volcano in the world that does so. But it is mainly the more ancient carbonatites, such as those in Greenland or Mountain Pass in the United States, that contain rare earth metals.

Beautiful myths

'What makes Greenland special is that it is well endowed with both alkaline complexes and carbonatites,' says Mazur. But that advantage also has a dark side. In Kvanefjeld, among other places, radioactive uranium is also present in raised concentrations. As people live near the Ilimaussaq plateau, mining has been halted. Greenlanders are not keen on waste basins full of toxic residue. China prefers to remain silent about it, but its largest mine in Bayan Obo, which is estimated to produce half of the world's rare earth metals, is a source of extreme pollution, cancer and birth defects.

Rare earth elements are found everywhere. They are also under your feet, but they are extremely thinly spread, and therefore unmineable. And even when they occur in concentrated form, as in Greenland, extraction is still complex. This is because they are not found in one specific mineral, but in various related minerals, which have to be "cracked" and undergo aggressive chemical processes. Greenland's wealth can therefore best be seen as an impregnable fortress in a godforsaken wilderness in a hostile climate.

Not so unique

Greenland is now in the spotlight of the geopolitical arena. But it also remains what it always was: invaluable to scientists and nature lovers who want to unravel the secrets of the planet. 'It's pretty cool, for example,' says geologist Meyer, 'that we have both the oldest basalt in the world and some of the youngest.'

'Greenland is rich as a geological province, but not really unique,' says Mazur. 'The narrative of Greenland as a raw materials paradise is only partly true. Similar deposits of rare earth metals can be found elsewhere, although Greenland is certainly very well endowed. On the other hand, Greenland is no richer than other regions when it comes to more traditional raw materials such as petroleum, gold, copper and lithium. The rapid gold rush that policymakers are now feverish about to replace China is doomed to fail. At best, the promised benefits will only become apparent after decades.'

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Continue reading on minerals and natural resources in the post on sand and concrete, on another not so safe mineral, asbestos, the long history of Earth (supercontinent Gondwana and Snowball Earth). One other mineral is used as a lever in the geopolitical arena, lapis lazuli, which adorns Tutankhamun's death mask and is (mis)used today by the taliban. 

Kathelijne: I am intrigued by how earth, life, and societies interact on geological and human timescales.

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