New Energy Weekly – What’s so special about Greenland?

What’s so special about Greenland?

In a word, metals.

The United States has a metal problem. Today, there are restrictions, taxes, or embargoes on the imports of aluminum, copper, nickel, steel, aluminum, gallium, germanium, antimony, tungsten, tellurium, bismuth, molybdenum, and indium.

These prohibitions and restrictions will have immediate effect on the U.S. and its mining industry. Most importantly, it increases the cost to manufacturers. The higher cost could cause supply chain disruptions, particularly for high-tech and military applications.

The concerns about metal supply reach all the way to the highest halls of U.S. power. There are tax credits, grants, policy proposals, and regulatory support for new exploration and development. We could be standing on the brink of a new golden age of mining exploration in the U.S.

We see Greenland as a metaphor. An ice-covered treasure chest of unknown wealth. It’s easy to point to and say, “This will solve all our problems!”

But the reality is much different from that dream. Mining is a tough business. Put it somewhere without roads, population, electricity, and a lot of ice…well it’s much harder. Greenland could have a burgeoning mining industry someday. But it will be decades from today.

Americans are about to reshore mining or go without important minerals. Mining hasn’t been a welcome industry in the U.S. in decades. For example, copper mining in Michigan peaked in the 1960’s. Since then, population growth put people in places that could be new mines.

That’s why the prospect of buying Greenland as our private mineral reserve is so appealing. It’s a national NIMBY (not in my back yard). Unfortunately, the owners of Greenland aren’t excited about our offer. They countered by offering to buy California (yes, we chortled).

The reshoring of mining in the U.S. is at the heart of our “New Mining” idea. We believe mining must come home. This trade war will last longer than we can do without these metals. That will cause mining companies to change their operations to be less intrusive. Even then, there will be massive protests.

Few people today understand how much of their lifestyles come from mined products. So much of our technological society derives from critical minerals mined far from North America. There are few places in the U.S. that you see a mine on your way to work or the grocery store. And frankly, we like it that way.

But that will change, must change. And it will be up to us to help shape what that will look like. But just know that “NIMBY” isn’t going to stop it from happening.

For the Good,
The Mangrove Investor Team