ANDRIEVSKII.CH: Greenland Emerges as a New Strategic Front for Critical Minerals
September 21, 2026
A new US-Denmark-Greenland agreement on the long-term security of the Arctic could reshape the investment appeal of one of the world’s largest undeveloped regions for critical minerals. The full text of the agreement has yet to be published, but Washington is taking a more durable role in the island’s security, while Copenhagen has stressed that Greenland’s sovereignty remains intact and that NATO’s role in Arctic security is expanding.
For mining companies, the immediate change is in the geopolitical value of their assets. Greenland holds resources of rare earths, graphite, copper, vanadium and other strategic materials, but projects have long been constrained by high infrastructure costs, limited access to capital and political risk.
The new arrangement could create a stronger pathway for Greenland’s deposits to become part of Western supply chains, from mining through processing.
Critical Metals — CRML: Heavy Rare Earths
Critical Metals Corp. controls 92.5% of Tanbreez, one of Greenland’s largest rare-earth projects. The resource is estimated at 44.9 million tonnes grading 0.38% TREO, with heavy rare earths accounting for about 27% of TREO.
Dysprosium and terbium are particularly important for strategic supply chains because they are used in high-temperature NdFeB permanent magnets.
The company has launched a $30 million accelerated development program and is targeting first ore production in late 2028 or early 2029. Tanbreez also has a 15-year binding offtake agreement with REalloys covering 15% of annual concentrate production, with priority for material containing higher levels of Dy and Tb.
CRML had a market capitalization of about $974 million as of Sept. 17.
The next milestones include an updated resource estimate, a definitive feasibility study, permitting, financing and infrastructure development. At the current valuation, the company increasingly needs to demonstrate a transition from a strategic story to an actual mining project.
Greenland Mines — GRML: High Risk, High Asymmetry
Greenland Mines completed the acquisition of Sarfartoq, an NdPr project in southwest Greenland, in September.
The resource includes 6.9 million tonnes of Indicated material grading 1.60% TREO and 5.3 million tonnes of Inferred material grading 0.96% TREO. The company cites a nine-year mine life and a high-case pre-tax NPV of about $2.05 billion — a project valuation metric rather than a guaranteed economic value.
GRML’s market capitalization was about $14.3 million as of Sept. 18.
That gap between the market value and the project’s stated economics makes the company highly sensitive to drilling results and progress toward a PFS. It also reflects the project’s early stage and its substantial financing requirements.
Near-term catalysts: infill drilling, metallurgical testing, engineering work and the PFS.
GreenRoc — GROC: Graphite for a Western Supply Chain
GreenRoc Strategic Materials is developing Amitsoq Graphite, a project with a 30-year exploitation licence.
The company is working not only on mining but also on processing concentrate into coated spherical purified graphite, a material used in battery anodes. The project has received strategic status under the EU Critical Raw Materials Act and support from EIFO.
The latest drilling program is expanding the mineralized zones, with the company reporting intersections of the Lower Graphite Layer of up to 21.3 meters true thickness.
GreenRoc has a market capitalization of about £9.7 million. The company is targeting production by the end of 2030, subject to successful completion of feasibility studies, permitting, financing and construction.
For GROC, the key question is no longer simply whether graphite is present, but whether the resource can be converted into an industrial supply chain with competitive economics.
Amaroq — AMRQ: A Diversified Greenland Platform
Amaroq Minerals has the most diversified portfolio among the companies considered here. Its market capitalization is about £527 million.
Its main asset is Nalunaq, where the resource is estimated at 504,000 ounces of gold at an average grade of 30.35 grams per tonne. At the same time, the company is advancing the Sava Copper Belt, Stendalen, which has copper, nickel, vanadium and titanium potential, and Paatusoq, which is prospective for rare earths and other critical minerals.
The presence of a producing asset distinguishes Amaroq from earlier-stage Greenland stories. The company expects to use cash flow from Nalunaq to advance its strategic mineral projects.
Key catalysts include higher gold production, resource growth and exploration results from its copper and strategic-mineral assets.
Andrievskii Verdict
Greenland is gradually moving from a remote mining frontier toward becoming a strategic resource asset for the West.
The main change following the agreement is not the immediate arrival of new mines, but the potential reduction in the geopolitical barrier facing Western capital. If the US security presence is accompanied by infrastructure investment and restrictions on competing capital in sensitive sectors, Greenland projects could gain improved access to financing, offtake agreements and government support programs.
Political backing, however, does not turn a deposit into a mine. The full terms of the agreement have yet to be published, while most projects remain dependent on permitting, capital, infrastructure and confirmation of economic viability.
The next re-rating of Greenland’s mining sector will therefore depend less on political statements and more on tangible milestones: drilling, PFS, DFS, financing, offtake agreements and the construction of processing capacity.
That is the potential investment shift: the market is beginning to assess not only what is in the ground, but also who controls the future supply chain and who can finance it.
If the new security architecture develops into a long-term economic program, Greenland’s NdPr, Dy, Tb, graphite and other critical minerals could command an additional strategic premium — particularly where projects can establish supply chains with less dependence on China.
For investors, Greenland is becoming a story not only about resources, but about capital, infrastructure and geopolitics.
Aleksei Andrievskii | Advisory Board Member, Bendura Bank AG | Liechtenstein