Critical minerals are a big part of Donald Trump’s fix.

US President-elect Donald Trump’s push to acquire Greenland could be fueled by critical minerals, with mining executives and researchers describing the island’s vast resource potential as a “tremendous opportunity”.

Trump’s years-long attempt to control the world’s largest island has gone into overdrive in recent weeks.

Before his inauguration on January 20, Trump said that America owns an autonomous Danish territory.Absolute necessityFor purposes related to “national security and liberty around the world.”

Trump has since doubled down on those comments. turn down Use military or economic force to make Greenland part of the US

Greenland Prime Minister Mute Egede told Trump it was an Arctic island.Not for sale“And urged the international community to respect the country’s aspirations for independence. With the Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksenthere will be soon. It is called To talk to Trump to resolve the situation.

Rep. Michael Waltz, R-Fla., the president-elect’s incoming national security adviser, was unequivocal when asked about Trump’s decision to make Greenland part of the United States.

“This is about critical minerals. This is about natural resources,” Walt said Fox News In an interview on January 9.

“This is about reintroducing America to the Western Hemisphere,” Waltz said. “You could call it the Monroe Doctrine 2.0, but it’s all part of the ‘America First’ agenda.”

Essential minerals refer to a group of materials that are considered essential for energy transfer. These minerals, which are most vulnerable to supply chain disruptions, include metals such as copper, lithium, nickel, cobalt and rare earth elements.

Critical minerals and rare earth elements are critical components in green technologies such as wind turbines and electric vehicles, energy storage technologies, and national security applications.

China is a key mineral supply chain leader; Accounting About 60% of the world’s mined rare earth minerals and materials. US officials have previously warned that this is a major strategic challenge to low-carbon energy sources.

Jacob Klove Keid, senior consultant at the Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland (GEUS), said in 2023: survey Greenland Resource Potential has assessed a total of 38 resources on the island, most of which have relatively high or moderate potential.

These materials include the rare earth metals graphite, niobium, platinum group metals, molybdenum, tantalum and titanium.

“Overall, we can say there’s a huge potential for critical raw materials[in Greenland],” Kidding told CNBC by phone.

“Many of these are of great importance to the EU economy and are certainly not limited to Europe. Many of these are on the US (critical raw materials) list,” he said.

Aja Kemnitz, member of the Danish Parliament for Greenland from the Inuit Atakatigit party, described Trump’s comments about Greenland as “disrespectful” and confirmed the Prime Minister’s message that the territory is not for sale.

“I’m not worried at all. I think some people in Greenland are very concerned, but I think it’s important for us to say that Greenland will not sell, never sell (and) never sell,” Chemnitz told CNBC’s Silvia Amaro on Monday.

Chemnitz said Greenland’s lawmakers “need to have clear and very specific goals on how to cooperate with the US.”

Closer ties between Greenland and the US, for example, will help facilitate investment in the island’s mining industry, she said.

“If we look at extraction, for example, rare earths. This is something we have been willing to do for a long time. We have been looking for American investors (but) we have not found them. We are very welcome,” Chemnitz said.

The U.S. military is based in northwest Greenland at Pitufic Space Base, formerly known as Thule Air Base.

“Greenland is getting more and more trendy, and it’s going to be front and center because of it. Climate change discussion, critical metals discussion and geopolitical discussion. And its proximity to the U.S. makes it a natural jurisdiction for major U.S. investment,” McIllree said.

In March last year, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen traveled to Nuuk, Greenland. Inaugurate the office of the European Union In the capital of the island.

The move comes several months before Donald Trump Jr.’s recent trip to the same city, and is intended to strengthen Europe’s presence in the region and the wider Arctic region.

Von der Leyen announced at the time two cooperation agreements worth about 94 million euros ($95.9 million), which will be used to invest in clean energy, critical raw materials and skills in Greenland.

“I’m a geologist by background and I know Greenland is very rich in natural resources,” Paul Lusty, head of battery raw materials research at Fastmarket, told CNBC in a video call.

“There’s been a lot of interest in the rare earths in Greenland, and obviously they could be of great strategic interest to America,” Lusty said.