The US and the EU open their coffers – but revenues are slow to arrive

Greenland is seeing the first results of a long-term effort for foreign investment – but there is still a long way to go to generate revenue for the national treasury.

Greenland has finally started to see the results of the work for investments from the US and the EU in the Greenlandic raw materials sector. Naaja Nathanielsen is satisfied – but urges calm.

At the end of May, she told the Financial Times that if Europe and the United States did not start investing in the mining sector, Greenland would have to look for partnerships elsewhere – including China.

– But I don’t see China as a major partner in the raw materials area. We have never sought that, and I don’t see that there has historically been any interest from them, she explains to KNR.

The first five mines

Naaja Nathanielsen hopes that Greenland will have established three to five mines within the next decade. Here she mentions five projects:

The Amaroq gold mine in Nalunaq, which is expected to be operational this year. Luminas mine in Kangerlussuaq. Greenland Anorthosite Mining at Majoqqap Qaava, which was granted a mining permit last month. They are expected to be close to operational within a five-year period. GreenRoc north of Nanortalik, which has received recognition and future funding from the EU, but does not yet have a mining permit. Tanbreez, which has just received a commitment for a possible loan of $120 million from the US Export-Import Bank.

In addition to the five companies, Naaja Nathanielsen emphasizes that other projects can suddenly take off, depending on what discoveries are made underground.

The EU has since publicly stated that it will fund GreenRoc’s investigations into a graphite mine north of Nanortalik. At the same time, the US Export-Import Bank has stated that there are possible investments coming from the US government of $120 million.

Similar statements have come from Drew Horn, director of GreenMet, which works to secure American investments in Greenland. He tells KNR that more money will flow Greenland’s way over the summer.

Now Naaja Nathanielsen puts into words what the investments mean and where the raw materials sector stands today.

The right direction

It is not just GreenRoc north of Nanortalik that the EU has turned its attention to. Naaja Nathanielsen says that the EU is also interested in Greenland Resources.

And it is precisely this attention that she has requested.

– This shows the willingness to go a step further, she says.

Similar enthusiasm is expressed by Naaja Nathanielsen over the US announcement of a possible state-financed loan to the company Tanbreez, which operates in Killavaat Alannguat, north of Qaqortoq.

– The American Export-Import Bank is just one example of a financing source that we, from the Government of Greenland, have been working to bring into play. We have long made the mineral-importing countries aware that it would be beneficial for the projects if they received favorable financing solutions from the countries’ import-export banks or similar financing sources.

Long road to income

Although investments in the raw materials sector are starting to make headlines, it will be a long time before it brings money to the national treasury, says naalakkersuisoq.

Initially, it will be more the local economy such as subcontractors such as boat charter companies, helicopter services, local shops and the local workers who will make money.

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– It takes mines that operate for several years before we notice it in the national treasury. We don’t have that yet. My dream is that in five to ten years we will have three to five active mines that are running stably. Then we will start to feel a real effect.

Naaja Nathanielsen emphasizes that globally it takes 16 years to open a mine, and that Greenland is therefore doing very well at the moment when it comes to speed.

Still, it may seem to be going slowly.

– Because we know about fishing and tourism, where it’s quick to get money in, it seems to be slow with mines. It’s important that we constantly have mines in every part of the process, so that there are both mines opening and new ones on the way.