Greenland gears up for election sparked by debate over Chinese-backed rare earths mining

An Australian firm’s proposal for a rare earths and uranium mining project, backed by Chinese investors, caused a rupture in the coalition government

The operation could spell a windfall for Greenland, long reliant on its fishing sector, but critics fear mining works could harm the pristine environment

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Greenland is trying to diversify its economy as it contemplates a future impacted by climate change. Photo: AP

Published: 12:05pm, 4 Apr 2021Updated: 12:05pm, 4 Apr 2021

Greenland votes on Tuesday in legislative elections largely seen as a referendum on a controversial mining project that would help diversify the Arctic island’s economy as it plans for a future altered by climate change.

The autonomous Danish territory, home to some 56,225 people, obtained ownership of its vast mineral reserves in 2009 when its self-rule powers were widened.

Those resources, its geopolitical relevance, and easier access due to melting sea ice, have made Greenland increasingly attractive to the world’s superpowers in recent years. Donald Trump, when he was US president, even offered to buy the island in 2019.

While Denmark and Greenland made it abundantly clear the territory was not for sale, Nuuk is nonetheless keen to attract foreign investments to help it cut its financial umbilical cord to Copenhagen someday.

Greenland has a population of some 56,000 people, mostly Inuit. Photo: EPA-EFE

A rare earths and uranium mining project proposed by an Australian company in the south of the island in Kuannersuit could provide a massive windfall that would supplement Greenland’s main industry, fishing.

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