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The beauty of Greenland -

The biggest island on Earth, Greenland has been capturing people’s imaginations since the dawn of time.

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Tourist hot spot -

With 80% of its territory covered by ice, there is nowhere else like it, and its magic certainly isn’t lost on the swarms of tourists who visit Greenland each year.

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Rich in resources -

In addition to being a great holiday destination, Greenland is thought to be rich in untapped mineral resources.

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Renewed interest -

Indeed, the interest in the island has been ramping up again, ever since it caught the eye of US President Donald Trump.

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The caveat -

Although Greenland may be a treasure trove of valuable mineral resources, the process of finding those minerals and extracting them presents various challenges.

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On a map -

If you look for Greenland on a map, you cannot miss it. It looks absolutely enormous, around the size of Africa.

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Misrepresentation -

However, this is a misrepresentation due to the Mercator map projection, which stretches and enlarges the image of countries near the poles.

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Actual size -

In fact, Greenland is around two million sq km (770,000 square miles), which is roughly the size of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

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Geological composition -

Greenland is unique in its geological composition: the vast majority of the island is covered in ice.

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The Greenland Ice Sheet -

The ice that covers Greenland is referred to as the Greenland Ice Sheet, and it drains slowly towards the coastline through a number of outlet glaciers.

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Ice-free areas -

The small portion of the island that is ice-free (around 20%) consists of spectacular mountains and the occasional town brimming with colorful homes.

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Discovering cryolite -

The interest in Greenland as a source of important minerals emerged as early as 1850, when explorers discovered cryolite in the south-west region of the island.

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Useful mineral -

Cryolite is referred to as the "ice that never melts" because it has a very high melting point. Quickly, settlers began mining cryolite to make bicarbonate of soda.

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Wartime resource -

Then, during World War II, the Ivittuut mine supplied the Allied forces with cryolite so that they could produce the aluminum needed to build planes.

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Geological mapping -

The concerted effort to produce a geological map of Greenland did not begin until after World War II, and geologists quickly realized it was a huge project.

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Many attempts -

There have been various attempts to map Greenland, both above and beneath the ice. In fact, to date, there are 55 detailed maps, some of which hint at which minerals might be present.

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The importance of critical minerals -

Critical minerals are a hot topic because they are needed to keep the world running, yet they are getting increasingly difficult to source.

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Clean energy -

Indeed, they are particularly important for the clean energy transition–critical minerals are needed to produce everything from electric car batteries to windmills.

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Current source -

Traditionally, these critical minerals have been sourced in countries such as China and Africa, but that is slowly beginning to change.

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Eyes on the Arctic -

Due to a combination of factors related to geopolitics, transportation and access, and economics, world leaders are now turning their attention to the Arctic as a potential new mining location.

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Economic considerations -

While Greenland may be rich in critical minerals, it is not clear whether their extraction and processing would be economically viable.

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The risk of exploration -

To start with, the process of exploration is very challenging and risky. Most of the time, an exploration project does not result in a mine.

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High risk, low reward -

According to Simon Jowitt, director of the Ralph J. Roberts Center for Research and Economic Geology at the University of Nevada, Reno, the strike rate is about one in every 100.

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Production -

Even if exploration efforts do result in a viable mine, it can take around 10 years for the mine to go from discovery to production.

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Lack of infrastructure -

One of the biggest challenges is infrastructure, which is famously lacking in Greenland.

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Potential hurdle -

The fact that there are no roads or railways once you leave the cities could prove to be a big hurdle for potential mining operations.

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The risk of processing -

Last but not least, the processing of extracted minerals can also be very problematic. Indeed, the desired mineral could be locked in something else that is dangerous.

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Example -

If a valuable mineral is locked in tandem with a radioactive mineral, for example, mining efforts could stop before even a single gram is processed.

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Serious challenge -

It seems clear, therefore, that extracting critical minerals from the world’s largest island is no easy feat.

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Early days -

However, the concept of large-scale mineral exploration in Greenland is still relatively new, and only time will tell whether the project has legs.

Sources: (BBC) (Visit Greenland)

See also: Dams that changed the world

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