Trump’s folly? Greenland for critical minerals is utter nonsense

EVERY few years, a craze engulfs the commodity industry: A new and exotic source of mineral supply is about to emerge, solving all the world’s shortages. The list stretches the imagination from the ocean abysses (deep-sea mining) to the vastness of space (asteroid mining).The buzz today is more mundane: Greenland – cold, vast and, so we’re told, endowed with every mineral the world needs. So large are its riches that US president-elect Donald Trump wants it. Trouble is, the theory is utter nonsense.

As with every tall tale, the story starts from a grain of truth. The island of about 60,000 people, a self-ruling territory of Denmark, has some mineral deposits, some of which are even large. That’s unsurprising. Geologically, the island is an extension of the North American continent, and we know that the US and Canada do enjoy a significant mineral endowment.

But cynical observers should be forgiven a case of deja vu. The hyperbole around Greenland and commodities has a 50-year-long history. Back in the 1970s, the interest was about oil. The craze resurfaced in the early 2000s after oil and iron ore prices surged. Suffice to say the island doesn’t pump a barrel of oil and the miner that planned to develop an iron ore deposit went into bankruptcy.