ASX-listed miner has front-row seat to Greenland drama
An ASX-listed mineral exploration company looking to develop a rare earth mine in Greenland has recruited lobbyists in Washington DC and former diplomats in Denmark and Australia as it grapples with a complex and volatile situation.
Energy Transition Minerals says the Kvanefjeld Project has the potential to become the Western world’s largest producer of rare earth minerals.
Minerals are vital for electronics and electric vehicles, which have come into the spotlight at a time when the United States is trying to break China’s production clampdown.
Kvanefjeld is located in Southern Greenland, the semi-autonomous Danish region that US President Donald Trump has threatened to seize “whether he likes it or not.”
The development of Kvanefjeld has been effectively blocked since 2021, when a socialist government came to power in Greenland, campaigning against the project that was given preliminary approval by the previous government.
Australia’s Energy Transition Minerals has filed a lawsuit against the Greenland government in a court in Copenhagen, claiming the mine was unlawfully halted by a retroactive law.
ETM director general Daniel Mamadou told AAP the case was progressing and the first hearing had not yet been scheduled in Greenland’s capital Nuuk.
Mr. Mamadou said everyone was shocked by the US approach to Greenland and expressed hope that the well-being of the population of 57,000 could be protected and improved.
But he added that senior politicians in Greenland have publicly stated they want closer ties, including a trade deal with communist China in 2025.
“So you know, every action has a reaction,” Mr. Mamadou said.
“The world order as we know it appears to be changing.”
He said the row with the US had created a lot of noise and Melbourne-based ETM had seen this reflected in share price volatility.
“I don’t find this surprising because the Kvanefjeld project really sits at the intersection of geopolitics and critical minerals and capital because we are a publicly traded company,” he said.
Mr Mamadou refused to get caught up in foreign policy drama.
Asked if he had any message for Mr Trump, the chief executive said he had a message for the Greenlandic Ministry of Raw Materials.
“So let’s sit down, let’s have a dialogue, let’s come up with a negotiated path to the statement of the application process,” he said.
“We are flexible, we can adapt, we can adapt. We can address any concerns raised during the public consultation period.
“So let’s work together to find a win/win solution.”
In early January, ETM appointed Washington lobbying firm Ballard Partners as strategic advisor.
The company also added a pair of top Danish diplomats to its advisory board in hopes of creating more communication channels than legal ones.
In 2025, it also recruited former Australian foreign minister Julie Bishop.
Mr Mamadou said his aim was to help the company manage the situation.
“We are miners, we are businessmen. We have this perspective, but maybe we think we can benefit from a different perspective,” he said.
Mr Mamadou said the US was borrowing a page from China’s playbook by taking direct stakes in rare earth miners such as MP Minerals, the main US producer.
“We really see ourselves as a Western champion in the critical minerals supply chain. We want to be positioned that way,” he said.
For investors, he said ETM offers “probably the most asymmetric, risk-adjusted return investment opportunity of current times.”
As of Friday afternoon, ETM shares were trading at 16 cents, up 60 percent since the beginning of the year and giving the company a market value of $300 million.
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