lobbying from Greenland's largest rare earth mine developer

Greenland's largest rare earth mine developer: US and Danish officials lobbied last year not to sell the Tambliz rare earth mine to Chinese companies

[Text/Observer Network Xiong Chaoran] 

Whether in his first term in office or recently, US President-elect Trump has constantly been hyping up the so-called "buying of Greenland", and his intentions regarding natural resources and confrontation with China have become obvious.

According to a Reuters report on January 9 local time, Greg Barnes, CEO of Tanbreez Mining, Greenland's largest rare earth mineral developer, revealed that officials from the United States and Denmark lobbied the company last year not to sell its projects to companies linked to China. He said his company has been in regular negotiations with the United States to evaluate financing options for developing key minerals in Greenland.

Finally, Barnes sold the ownership of the Tamblitz rare earth mine, one of the world's largest rare earth deposits, to Kritiko Metals, headquartered in New York, USA. According to the US company, the acquisition price it paid was much lower than the bid of the Chinese company.

The report believes that this move highlights that U.S. officials have had a long-term economic interest in the autonomous Danish territory long before Trump began to consider acquiring Greenland in recent weeks. Analysts also believe that the United States seems to be trying to change the "rules of the game" for rare earth projects. U.S. officials are trying to offset China's influence on the mineral-rich Central African Copper Belt by controlling Greenland.

Barnes, CEO of privately held Tanbreez Mining, said U.S. officials visited southern Greenland twice last year, where the Tanbreez project, one of the world's largest rare earth deposits, is located.

These American officials have repeatedly traveled there to convey a message to cash-strapped Tamblitz Mining: Don't sell the huge mineral reserves to buyers with ties to China.

Reuters was unable to immediately reach the U.S. State Department for comment on the report. The White House did not respond to a request for comment and the Danish Foreign Ministry declined to comment.

Ultimately, Barnes sold ownership of the Tambriz mine to New York-based Critical Metals in a complex deal that will be completed later this year, giving Critical Metals control of one of the world's largest rare earth deposits.

According to the data from the Global Geological and Mineral Information System of the Ministry of Natural Resources, the total rare earth oxide (TREO) content of the Tambliz project is 28.2 million tons. Based on this resource volume, Tambliz is already one of the world's largest rare earth deposits, with 4.7 billion tons of ore. The heavy rare earth oxides in the deposit account for 27% of the total rare earth oxides, and the value of heavy rare earths is higher than that of light rare earth elements. Once put into production, the mine can supply the rare earth elements needed by Europe and North America. The Financial Times also pointed out that it is estimated that Greenland has 38.5 million tons of rare earth oxides, while the total reserves in the rest of the world are 120 million tons.

The information revealed by Tony Sage, CEO of the final buyer, Cretico Metals, is even more interesting.

"There was a lot of pressure not to sell (Tambriz Mining) to China," Sage said Barnes accepted $5 million in cash and $211 million in Kritiko Metals shares as payment for the project, a price far lower than the Chinese company's bid.

According to the report, Barnes claimed that the acquisition was not related to the offers from China and others because the offers did not clearly state how to pay. Neither Barnes nor Saich disclosed which US officials they met with or the name of the Chinese company that made the offer.

As early as last year, Kritiko Metals applied to the U.S. Department of Defense for funds to develop rare earth processing facilities. Although the review process is currently stalled, Saich expects that the process will resume after Trump takes office. He also revealed that his company has held supply negotiations with defense contractor Lockheed Martin and is about to negotiate with Raytheon and Boeing. In fact, Kritiko Metals' third largest investor is the American Jianda Company, whose CEO is Howard Lutnick, Trump's nominee for the next U.S. Secretary of Commerce.

Rare earth is a non-renewable scarce strategic resource, a general term for 17 metal elements, known as the "industrial MSG", and have attracted much attention due to their wide application in the fields of energy and military high-tech. A US Congressional research report once revealed that US high-tech weapons are heavily dependent on rare earths. For example, an F-35 fighter jet requires 417 kilograms of rare earth materials, while a nuclear submarine uses more than 4 tons of rare earth.

Reuters pointed out that the importance and necessity of rare earths have triggered a fierce competition among Western interest groups against China, to weaken China's near-complete control over the mining and processing of rare earths. China is the world's number one producer and exporter of rare earths, and currently controls about 90% of the global rare earth supply. Therefore, some Western countries such as the United States are very worried that they will be "choked" by China, and have recently attached great importance to finding and building a new rare earth supply chain.

The report quoted analysts as saying that projects such as Tambliz were not previously considered attractive for investment, but the United States seems to be trying to change the "rules of the game" for rare earth projects. The sale of ownership of the Tambliz project to a US company shows that US officials are trying to offset China's influence on the mineral-rich Central African copper belt by controlling Greenland.

Dwayne Menezes, director of the London-based Polar Research and Policy Initiative (PRPI), believes that although Greenland claims it is "not for sale," it welcomes commercial activities and greater investment from the United States.

Greenland is located northeast of North America, between the Arctic Ocean and the Atlantic Ocean. It is the largest island in the world with a population of about 60,000. It was once a Danish colony and achieved self-government in 1979. It has its own parliament. This island, which is mostly covered by ice, has very rich natural resources, and its onshore and offshore oil and natural gas reserves are also considerable. The island is basically autonomous, but its foreign policy and security decisions are made by Denmark.

In August 2019, then-US President Trump was exposed to have privately discussed with advisers the purchase of Greenland, an autonomous territory of Denmark, but then Greenland's then-Foreign Minister Ane Lone Bagger rejected the idea: "We are open for business, but Greenland is 'not for sale'."

On November 25, 2024, Alexander B. Gray, a senior fellow at the American Foreign Policy Council (AFPC) and former chief of staff of the White House National Security Council in the Trump administration, published an opinion article in the Wall Street Journal saying that after starting his second term, Trump should continue his unfinished business - buying Greenland.

Gray believes that Greenland "wants to be independent" and the United States has "coveted it for a long time", but the biggest reason is still China and Russia. He hyped that the actions of China and Russia in the Arctic region in recent years should cause "serious concern", especially since Greenland has rich natural resources such as gold, silver, copper, oil, uranium, and rare earth minerals, "which provides opportunities for opponents", and Greenland cannot fight alone.

To this end, he suggested that Trump should reach this "deal of the century" to prevent threats to Western security and economic interests. He also fantasized that the United States could try to imitate the "Compact of Free Association" reached with the South Pacific island countries and establish a so-called "freely associated country" relationship with Greenland.

As expected, Trump could not wait to be officially sworn in and threatened to "acquire Greenland" several times. On January 7, local time, Trump's threats to use force to control Greenland made headlines in major media around the world. In his speech at Mar-a-Lago, he refused to rule out the possibility of "controlling the Panama Canal and Greenland by military or economic coercion." On the same day, Trump's eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., also paid a private visit to Greenland.

Reuters described Trump's series of remarks as indicating that he would pursue a more confrontational foreign policy that disregards traditional diplomatic etiquette.

In response to Trump's threat of force, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said in an interview with Danish media TV2 that the United States is Denmark's "most important and closest ally" and she does not believe the United States will use military or economic means to ensure control over Greenland. She reiterated that she welcomes the United States to invest more interest in the Arctic region, but this "must be done in a way that respects the people of Greenland."

"The government's starting point is very clear: the future of Greenland should be decided by Greenlanders, and Greenland belongs to Greenlanders," Frederiksen stressed.

"Let me say it again, Greenland belongs to the Greenlandic people. Our future and our fight for independence are our business." On January 7 local time, Mute Bourup Egede, Prime Minister of the Greenland Autonomous Government, said on social media: "Although others, including Danes and Americans, have the right to express their opinions, we should not be swayed by fanaticism or let external pressure force us to deviate from our path. The future belongs to us and we will shape it." Egede reiterated that his government is working for Greenland's eventual separation from Denmark.

This article is an exclusive article of Observer.