Will Greenland mine its way into prosperity and freedom?

A couple news stories in the last week have mentioned how the mineral wealth in Greenland could be the key to independence from Denmark’s rule and eventually even becoming a free state under the European Union (EU). According to an article at EurActiv.com, Greenland has vast mineral resources including several hard rock metals like gold , copper, uranium, and even some deposits of rare earth minerals.

Exploration of Greenland’s minerals has been going on for over a decade. Although many of the deposits are still in the early stages of exploration and there could be even more mineral wealth than anticipated. Foreign mining companies are jumping at a chance to get in, include a few Chinese and South Korean companies.

Dan Bång, the Chief Financial Officer of a local exploration company, NunaMinerals, said, “This is Greenland’s future.”

According to an article in The Guardian, there are hopes that the income from mineral development could help ease some of the afflictions of the indigenous populations of Greenland.

“The government would like to have another source of income – currently there is just fishing, and a little from tourism, so this is a big opportunity for us. These explorations can be done sensitively, we believe,” said Henrik Stendal of the Greenland’s mineral extraction department.

With a population of about 57,000 and some poor rural areas, the mining industry could bring jobs and infrastructure to undeveloped areas and help move Greenland into first world country status.

We look at Greenland as the potential of what the mining industry could provide if given the chance to mine responsibly.