Sharjah24 – Reuters: The world’s biggest island has huge resources of metals known as ‘rare earths,’ used to help power equipment such as wind turbines and electric vehicles. But even green energy has a polluting side. Francesca Lynagh reports.
The green revolution is putting Greenland under pressure. Warming temperatures are melting away ice sheets, making Greenland’s riches more accessible and the surging demand for EV batteries has driven more miners to the Arctic island.
Two Australia-based mining companies are racing for approval to dig. One is seeking funding from the U.S. and the other is backed by China - which dominates the global production of rare earths. Each mine would cost about $500 million to develop. One mine would not involve any nuclear material. The other would produce radioactive material and export the uranium to China
Many Greenlanders, while concerned about pollution, feel mining is key to develop their fragile economy .The self-governing territory of the Kingdom of Denmark has a GDP of around $3 billion.
Its people live mostly on fishing and grants from Copenhagen, and the government has been keen to attract foreign investments.
Expected annual royalties from the Chinese-linked rare earths mine is around $245 million per year. That’s equivalent to roughly 15% of public spending.
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